Chapter 9
"So, that's it, is it? She's scarred for life," Sasuke said as he sat up in bed. It had been two days since their fight with Anamaraki and his men. He looked down at the bandages covering his wound. His mind was deep in thought.
Neji nodded at him, his eyes focused on the floor, his hands together as he sat beside Sasuke's bed. Kiba was one bed over. He, too, was unable to sit up. "The wound on her face is a permanent reminder of our battle. The question I have is do we still take her back with us? Onari is untrained and she sticks out like a sore thumb," Neji said choosing his words carefully.
"She goes back with us," Kiba said watching the two. "I'm not leaving the sprout here to be tormented by the people in this village any longer. It's not fair for her considering what she did for us."
"I agree. It isn't fair," Neji said. "Whose decision is it? Where do we put Onari? Remember Naruto was different. Everyone treated him horribly. It will be no different for her there than it is here."
"Wrong," Shikamaru said as he walked in with his hands in his pockets. "Onari has us, unlike before. If Sasuke won't take her in, I will. I already stressed my viewpoint."
Sasuke looked up at all of them with a blank stare. "Who said I wasn't serious about taking her?" They all turned their heads towards him. "I told you guys I wanted her. I stand by what I said. The wound on her face doesn't bother me. It was because of me that you all were injured. I started it."
"Are you serious about taking her in? Onari isn't some thing, she's a person," Shikamaru said.
"I understand that she's a little girl who needs a home. The least I can do is take her in after she saved all of us," Sasuke said. "She may be a good addition to our family."
They all looked worried.
Sasuke's eyebrow twitched. "What is it…"
"No offense, Sasuke, but she isn't going to be like one of your students. You won't be able to get rid of her at the end of the day," Kiba said. He threw his hands up in an apology when Sasuke glared at him.
"Onari is also a girl," Neji said.
"I can handle a girl," Sasuke said defensively.
"She isn't a normal girl. She can't speak much of our language and gets easily frustrated with it. Onari doesn't understand people, or their intentions. She also doesn't know how to behave in particular settings," Shikamaru stated. "She's even frightened by strangers and is afraid of rejection."
"You sound like you have some experience with her," Kiba said.
"While both of you have been bed ridden, me and Lee have been taking her out. It was important for her to get used to us; to trust us. Sasuke, if you mean what you stated, then you're going to have to have the patience of a monk with this girl."
"I understand. I have a kid who doesn't know anything about the world around her and I have to teach her. Got it," Sasuke said.
Shikamaru put his hand behind his head, sighing. Does he really understand?
"Hey, guys! I have a visitor for you," Lee said. Onari peaked out from behind him, watching. Her hands clutched to his clothes for protection.
"Hey, sprout," Kiba said a little too loudly. Onari shrunk back quickly, withdrawing from their view. "Oops."
Sasuke grabbed one of his pillows. "Kiba, you can't sit up at all, correct?"
"No, why?"
Sasuke threw his pillow at Kiba. It hit his face. "Neji, I'll give you my next earnings if you get up and smother him. We'll just tell everybody he died."
"As tempting as that is, I think I'll pass. I don't want to give Onari a bad influence," Neji said.
"Why don't we give Onari and Sasuke some time alone," Lee said. Onari was afraid to be left alone at this point. He could see that by the look on her face, but it was important for her to bond with Sasuke right now.
Shikamaru closed the privacy curtain around Kiba and Sasuke, separating them. "Come on, he's not going to hurt you," he said as he pushed Onari near Sasuke's bed. Onari looked back at him pleading as he left.
Sasuke watched her with a sad gaze. Onari was afraid of him. She was afraid of everyone. "Onari," he said in the calm, soft voice he had first used with her. She turned around slowly, her hair covering her face.
"Now, how are you going to be able to see like that," he asked. Sasuke gestured for her to come closer. She was hesitant, but moved nearer. "I can't get out of bed, so you'll have to move more than that."
Onari wasn't sure. He wasn't yelling at her so far, which was good. Sasuke was watching her with kind eyes. What would he say about her face? She brought her hand up to touch it, wincing at what she felt.
Sasuke patted the bed, issuing for her to climb up. She climbed onto the bed, but stayed at his feet. He signaled for her to get closer. She moved a foot. Alright, she's afraid. I have to have patience. Sasuke gestured a few more times to the girl before she was next to him on the bed.
Onari tensed as she saw him lift his hand towards her. She shut her eyes tightly as she felt him move the hair off of her face.
Sasuke tucked her hair behind her ears. "There. Now I can see your pretty face and you won't hurt yourself." He watched as she opened her eyes to look at him. "There are those beautiful eyes of yours I haven't seen in a while."
Onari had pretty eyes? Sasuke wasn't rejecting her because of her scars, either. Something inside of her tightened. Her eyes began to well up. The girl lowered her head ashamed of crying in front of someone else.
Sasuke held her face in his hands, his thumbs wiping away her tears. "Thank you," he said to her. Onari looked up at him baffled. "Thank you, for saving all of us, Onari," he said as he bent towards her, kissing her forehead.
Onari wasn't sure what she was feeling. A glowing sensation was coming from her chest, melting the ice that was around it. This man had shown more care and concern than anyone ever had towards her. She leapt at him, clinging to his form, her face buried in his chest.
Sasuke wrapped both of his arms around her protectively. He petted the back of her head as she cried. Years of loneliness and torment were erupting from the girl. She needed him more than anything in the world.
He looked down at her wiping away her sadness again. "Hi," he said. Onari looked at him, tilting her head. "Hi," he said again.
"H….hi," she said back.
Sasuke pointed to himself.
"Sasuke," she said not understanding what he was doing.
"That's right. You're a very smart girl, Onari. How would you like to stay with me when we get back to the Hidden Leaf Village?"
Onari tilted her head. "Onari stay….Sasuke?"
He nodded at her. "Onari will have a home with Sasuke. Understand?"
Home? It clicked inside of her head. People were walking with their children back to homes. Homes were where they stayed together. Onari looked at him surprised. "Sasuke want… Onari..?"
"Hmmm? Of course," he said.
Onari stayed glued to Sasuke for the remainder of the day. She stayed in her place on the bed when the nurse came in, and even shielded her eyes when his bandages had to get changed. She was a funny kid. Sasuke leaned back as the sun started to set outside. He stroked the girl's hair. She had fallen asleep on his leg.
Kiba mumbled behind his privacy curtain. He was getting hot and the curtain was still closed. He wondered what was going on over there that was so secret. This sucks.
(Scene Change)
"Kiba, you're heavy. Lay off the ramen," Sasuke said as they walked back to the inn. Villagers littered the road putting final decorations into view. Onari lifted her head curiously. Sasuke watched her trying to figure out what was going on around her. "Onari, you don't know what Christmas is?"
Onari looked back at him shaking her head. She had seen the decorations before, but as for their purpose? She had no idea. A man bumped into her carrying gifts. Onari tensed, gasping, waiting for the man to snap at her.
The man passed on by not saying an apology, or a word towards her. She felt a hand on her head, rubbing. Onari turned around to see that it was Kiba. He was smiling at her a little.
"Don't worry about that guy, Sprout. He could have walked into an elephant and never noticed," Kiba said.
"Ele-phant," she repeated, not knowing what word that was.
"We have to find you a tutor when we get back," Kiba said.
The village was slick with ice patches and freshly dropped snow. Onari was breathing into the air trying to catch her breath. Mabae was running around her throwing bits of snow into the air with his paws. Onari turned around when she heard a thud and yelp of pain.
She ran over to Kiba and Sasuke who had fallen in the snow. Kiba was grimacing. "Kiba? Kiba hurt rear," Onari said looking at it. "Sasuke rear okay."
"Onari, quit poking it with a stick," Kiba complained. "It's still sore from when I fell onto that fruit store."
"Onari," Sasuke said eying her. She stopped and cocked her head at him. "Why are you examining my rear like that?" Onari laughed.
Kiba laughed at the girl laughing. "Maybe it's because you have a nice one. You already have a fan club back home."
Sasuke glared at him. "Laugh it up." He threw a snowball at him, smirking.
"Hey, that wasn't very nice at all, was it, Sprout?" Kiba retaliated by throwing one back. Onari blinked. The two were throwing snowballs at each other like crazy. She and Mabae watched as Sasuke spit snow out of his mouth. Kiba's face was red from where he had been pummeled.
"Well, now I know what was taking you all so long," Neji said. "The children are having a snow fight."
Kiba gritted his teeth. "So we're immature, is it?" He smacked a snowball right at Neji's forehead.
Neji stared back at him, wiping the snow off. His face was cold and motionless. "You will regret that."
"Bring it, sissy pants," Kiba challenged.
Sasuke got a horrified look on his face as Neji came straight at Kiba. He dove out of the way as Neji threw snowball after snowball at Kiba in return. Kiba grabbed Neji around the waist to bring him down. They started rolling hard and fighting to get each other.
Onari started to laugh, rather hard. Her giggling sounded much like a bunch of bubbles popping into the air. Kiba was covered in snow, as well as, Neji. Kiba was soon on top of his friend trying to pin him down. He was attempting to smother snow into Neji's long hair. Mabae came into play when Neji squirmed and kicked Kiba off.
Kiba came back stronger once Neji was distracted, throwing several snowballs at Neji's back. Neji bounced a huge snowball in his hand, staring at Kiba. He narrowed his eyes and threw at the back of Kiba's head. Kiba saw it coming but was unable to avoid it. He went down. "That will teach you to start immature name calling," Neji said triumphantly.
"What happened to you," Lee asked as Kiba was placed against the wall of their room. "You look like someone beat you up and mugged you."
Kiba scowled.
"It was Santa Clause. He said Kiba's been bad this year," Neji said. He sat down, calming himself.
"Santa, huh," Shikamaru said putting out his cigarette.
Onari tugged on Sasuke's arm. She pointed at Neji. "Santa get Onari?"
Sasuke petted her head. "No, he only goes after Kiba because he asks for it."
Rock Lee and Shikamaru both looked at Neji. "So, Santa, which knuckle do I get for Christmas," Shikamaru asked. Neji tried to ignore the teasing.
Shikamaru got up, gesturing to Sasuke. "Hey, me and Lee have an idea about Christmas for Onari," he said lowly. He made sure the girl couldn't hear what they were discussing. Who knew what words she did understand? "We've been planning to decorate the other room and get a tree. Tomorrow we are planning to go out for supplies and gifts. Is that alright with you?"
Sasuke watched Onari poke Kiba. "Yeah, that's a good idea. I don't think she's had a Christmas before."
"Are you serious? A cute kid like her being mistreated was enough to set me off," Shikamaru said. He was normally a calm, laid-back person. "Hey, Sasuke, I wasn't trying to take her away from you back there."
"I know. You just wanted what is best for her; like I do," Sasuke said. "Onari, as much as Kiba acts like a dog, he isn't one. Don't pull on him. He's injured." Sasuke sweat dropped as she pointed at Neji. "No… it's not because of 'Santa'."
(Scene Change)
"Onari, say 'good night' to Neji," Sasuke said as he fixed the bed for her.
Onari looked at Neji shyly. She wasn't close to him like Sasuke, or Shikamaru. They had spent the most time with her. To her, Neji was as serious as stone could be. He was tall, handsome, and strong. She found that out earlier when he had went after Kiba. Her eyes met his and she shrank back.
"Onari, I won't hurt you," Neji said as he wrote out his report to turn in. "I promise," Neji confided as he placed his hands together in a prayer.
Sasuke watched her eying Neji. She was wary, he could see that much. "Onari, sometimes you have to face your fears whether you know the outcome, or not. You have to be strong here," he told her as he placed his hand over his heart.
Onari bit her lip as she started to walk over to Neji. She hesitated. Neji was watching intently. It made her nervous. She lowered her gaze. Before she knew it, she was shaking hands with him.
Neji touched her chin, making her look at him. "It's important to look at someone in the eyes, Onari. It's a secret way of telling if that person is sincere, or not." She was taking it all in. "What do you see in my eyes?"
Onari tilted her head this way and that, her eyes matching his. "Neji say… what… Neji say."
Neji quirked a brow at her.
"I think she means, 'you say what you intend'," Sasuke said.
"Ah, well, that's very true," Neji said.
Sasuke tucked Onari in. "We're not leaving the room, so no one is going to bother you, alright?"
Onari looked at him, actually keeping her eyes focused on his. "Sasuke and Neji not stop bad men..?" The expression on Sasuke's face told her the words were incorrect.
"Sasuke and Neji will stop the bad guys," Sasuke corrected.
"Onari," Neji said getting her attention. "Remember this afternoon? Remember how Kiba looked after I got him with those snowballs? If anyone sets a foot in here to harm you, they'll get the same treatment; except with rocks."
That might have been too graphical. Sasuke looked back down. Onari's eyes were closed. She seems satisfied with that explanation, though.
"Who's watching Onari tomorrow," Neji asked. He folded the report. "Someone has to watch her. It's a surprise, remember? Half of us are going out in the morning and the rest in the afternoon."
Sasuke wondered how the girl was going to react if he went out without her. "I haven't really thought about that."
"She has to get used to you being away. Our duties resume when we return. Maybe it would be a softer blow if you went in the morning with Lee and Shikamaru," Neji suggested.
"You want to be left alone with Kiba?"
"Not particularly, but he gets along with Onari and she likes him."
"Alright, I'll go before she gets up," Sasuke said. He had no idea what he was going to get her. Onari needed a lot, but they were a long way from home. Carrying everything back was going to be an interesting task.
(Scene Change)
"Where… Sasuke," Onari asked looking around the room. She felt lost without him now. Her gaze searched the room, checking everywhere he could possibly hide.
"Onari, he didn't leave you. He went out to run some errands. Sasuke will be back in a little while," Neji said.
Onari didn't understand. He was here last night. She looked away from Neji, her arms holding onto herself. She started chewing on her sleeves as she looked out the window.
Neji walked over to her, kneeling. He could tell she was trying to comfort herself. He leaned in, putting his arms around her. "I know you don't understand, Onari. Sasuke went with Lee and Shikamaru to get stuff for a surprise later." She looked at him, sniffling. Neji wiped the tears away. "He'll be back."
Any move Neji made in the room required Onari to be glued to him. She didn't want him out of her sight. He wasn't used to a kid being so attached to him, either. It annoyed him for her to be that dependent on him. At her age, he was already independent and asked no one for anything. Kiba couldn't have had a better timing when he came over. "I'm warning you, she's going to be attached to you."
Kiba smiled at Onari showing his teeth. "Neji's awfully stiff, isn't he?" He received a small smile in return. Kiba opened his arms and Onari went straight for him. "See? It's not so bad."
Neji sighed a bit of relief. "She likes you best because you're on her level. I'm going to take a shower." He left the two of them alone.
Mabae lay down, wagging his tail as he got comfortable. Kiba touched the girl's face. He could smell the tears off of her. "Hey, have you been crying?" Onari lowered her gaze. "Let's see how quick you are at copying me. We'll make it a game, okay?"
"Onari game?"
Kiba nodded. "I'll show you how Sasuke changed his appearance the other day. Whoever can copy the most people, gets a kiss, alright?" He was trying to put into play what Shikamaru had said about Onari's quick abilities. Alright, Sprout, watch," He closed his eyes, concentrating. Kiba kept his hands still as he focused. Onari watched as Kiba's physical appearance changed with a puff of smoke. He now sported long red hair, curvy hips…and breasts. Kiba chose to turn into a woman. Her eye twitched.
"So do I look better this way?"
"Kiba, no," Onari said shaking her head. It was one thing to change to another person, but to change gender all together, was disturbing. She moved back a little.
Kiba concentrated again, his eyes closed. He focused his chakra and at the right moment, there was another puff of smoke. He turned into the medic that had patched all of them up. "You can turn into anyone you see. Animals, also. Transformation jutsus take a lot of concentration. The user can only hold the illusion as long as he is focused. If he gets distracted, the illusion disappears."
"Watch," he said. He concentrated again. There was another puff of smoke. Kiba sat with his hands on his knees, face stern and serious. "I am Neji Hyuga. I have no sense of humor and the best feature about me is my long, dark hair."
Onari put her hands over her mouth. Kiba was in so much trouble. If Neji came out of the bathroom now, he would get beat up for sure. She thought it was funny. Kiba looked exactly like Neji, but retained his gruff voice. She gasped.
Neji walked out of the bathroom in a pair of shorts, drying his hair. He took one look at the dopple ganger and stopped. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Showing Onari the transformation jutsu," Kiba said keeping his serious pose.
"That's not what I meant. Why are you me," Neji said, his brow twitching.
"Kiba got pretty hair," Onari said from behind her sleeves. Neji didn't appear to be happy. He started to twist the towel in his hands.
"So that's the reason. I'm tired of you making fun of me!" Neji came at Kiba popping him with the towel. Kiba yelped as he was struck in the back and rear. He was determined to get away, but Neji was faster. Once Kiba lay motionless on the floor, groaning, Neji stopped. He was satisfied. "You're a bad influence."
Onari tilted her head at the mark on his forehead. She wondered what the mark meant. She crawled over to Neji pointing at it. "Neji?" Neji turned his face away from her to put his headband back on. Was it a bad mark? He walked away from her suddenly becoming busy with something. Onari didn't understand. What did the mark mean?
Kiba rubbed his back and rear where Neji had struck him with the towel. He gritted his teeth. "Man, Neji has no sense of humor." Kiba looked at Onari. She was withdrawing again. "Hey, sprout, what's wrong?"
Onari didn't understand. She was chewing on her sleeves again, hiding her face behind them. Was Neji mad at her for something? She didn't know.
"Hey, Neji didn't mean to shun you away. The mark on his forehead is the mark of his clan. It shows his loyalty for the Hyuga blood line. He's kind of sensitive about it," he told her.
Onari couldn't help it. These people were new to her. She had only been with them a few days. Neji kind of scared her because he was so serious and reserved. The others weren't that bad.
There was a tap at the door, then Shikamaru came in. "Alright, it's your turn to go." He looked instantly at Onari. "Hey, beautiful, why are you so quiet?"
"She's scared of Neji," Kiba said.
"Don't fell bad," Shikamaru said crouching in front of her. "Deep down, we're all scared of Neji." He moved his hand towards her, moving her hair out of her face. "Hey, don't I get a hug or anything?" Onari leapt at him. Shikamaru petted her head. "You're about as sweet as they come, aren't you?"
"Alright, well, I guess we're off then," Kiba said as Neji stood by the door, waiting. "See you later, sprout."
"Hey, can I go ahead and give Onari my gift," Lee said coming in.
"I guess you can, although, most wait until tomorrow," Shikamaru said.
Rock Lee sat down and showed Onari a pretty box with all sorts of designs on it. There was a bright gold bow on top. "Look what I have! It's a Christmas present!" She was watching him from behind Shikamaru's arm. He shook it a little, letting her listen. "I wonder what it could be!"
Shikamaru said rather blandly, "Would you just give it to her?"
"Oh, sorry." Lee held it out for her, but Onari didn't seem to know what to do with it. "You open it. It's yours."
Onari looked up at Shikamaru.
"You can open it. He got it just for you," he told her. She cautiously took the box, but just sat there with it. "Onari, open it," Shikamaru said. They watched as she carefully tore the wrapping then lifted the top off. She tilted her head.
"I hope they're the right size. I was guessing, " Lee said apologetically. He watched as she took the shoes out of the box. "They're a lot better than walking around in the snow barefoot."
Shikamaru helped her put them on. "There. Now you look like a proper ninja. Can you say 'thank you' to Lee?"
"Hmm?" Rock Lee watched as she shyly crawled over to him. Onari hugged him softly. Lee blushed in return. "Eh heh. It's no big deal. You needed them anyway."
"So what's going on in here," Sasuke asked.
"Sasuke," came a happy little girl's voice. She came running at him pointing to her shoes. "Onari feet!"
He kneeled down, petting her head. "I see you got an early Christmas present. Would you like to see what we've done to the other room?" Sasuke watched as she tilted her head. "Come on."
Onari went into the other room and saw a tree there. She pointed at it. "What for?"
"Well, you put ornaments and lights on it at Christmas. You get to add your favorite things to the tree. When the lights are turned on, the tree shows all of your favorite things," Sasuke told her.
"Hey, what ornaments did you get, " Lee asked. He started to go through the boxes. "These are pretty neat. I like the wooden ones the most." He picked up one shaped like a dog.
"Kiba," Onari said.
"Yeah, that does resemble him, doesn't it," Shikamaru said.
Onari looked inside the box. She found an ornament that was a red bird. She held it high for Lee to see. "Oh, you like that one? Shikamaru picked it out. It looks like Akaihi, right?" Onari nodded.
"So…what do you think Izumi will say," Shikamaru asked as he lit a cigarette. He blew out a puff of smoke. Now he could relax.
"I don't know exactly. I might have to ask a favor. Could you introduce Onari to Saori and Temari first? I really don't know how Izumi will react when I come home with a kid," Sasuke said.
"How do you think Takeru will act? Him and Onari are close in age. I wonder if he'll be friends with her, or resent her," Shikamaru said as he watched the girl taking out ornaments. He was hoping Onari could be friends with Saori as well.
"I'm hoping he'll help Onari adjust. He needs another outlet besides goofing off in class," Sasuke said.
"I wonder why he feels the need to show off. He doesn't have to prove himself to anybody. Perhaps there's another reason," Shikamaru said.
Sasuke wondered why his son was a show-off. Takeru acted just like Naruto when he was younger. Well, not entirely, but it was similar. Everyone knew who Takeru was because his father was Sasuke. The Uchiha name still held power, but there were only three members. Did his son feel lost because the clan was small and few? Or was there another reason all together, like Shikamaru thought?
"I don't have a problem taking her home with me if it'll buy you some time," Shikamaru said. "You really think Izumi will turn her out?"
"No, not really, but I haven't had an opportunity to talk to her about everything. Izumi isn't the kind of person to do something like that. I just need to make her aware of Onari," Sasuke said.
Lee put a Santa hat on Onari. "Hah. You look like Santa." Lee blinked. Onari's face was emotionless. "I meant Santa Clause, not Neji."
Onari pointed at him. "Lee Santa." Rock Lee smiled at her as he put on a hat, too.
"Sorry, Onari, but we've got to clean the wound on your face now," Shikamaru said. He watched as she hid behind Lee clinging to him. She knew what was coming alright. "Who do you want to do it?" He watched as she tilted her head at him. Yeah, her vocabulary is limited. Shikamaru pointed to the bottle on the table, then to himself, Sasuke and Lee. He pointed again at the bottle then to his face. "Which one? It has to be done, beautiful."
Onari shut her eyes. The stuff in the bottle stung her face. If it was supposed to help, why did it hurt? She had to pick somebody to do it. Shikamaru wasn't going to let her get away, either. Sasuke told her to be strong when she was afraid. Onari plopped onto her back. She raised her hand and pointed at Lee. She was already near him anyways.
"Alright, Lee gets the job. Are we going to have to hold you down like last time," Shikamaru asked. Sasuke looked at him oddly. "She's a fighter. It took three of us to keep her still at the clinic."
"Yeah, she may not look it, but she's rather spunky," Lee said as he retrieved the bottle. He signaled with his finger for her to sit up. Onari grumbled and sulked. She flinched as he put the antiseptic on her wound. "See, that wasn't so bad." He replaced the bottle.
"Lee?" Onari pointed to her forehead.
"Does your head hurt," he asked. She shook her head, making a gesture with her finger. "I don't understand." Onari held her finger up to her forehead making an X. "You want to know about the mark on Neji's forehead?" She nodded. "Well, it's a mark that was placed on him when he was a kid. In clans there is a main house that consists of those in power versus the lower branches that have to do what they say. Neji is in a lower branch and at one point, he had to do whatever the ones in charge said. If Neji chose to disobey them, the mark on his forehead was a way to control him. If he still defied their authority, or acted in any way on his own accord, the clan had the power to kill him," Lee said.
"Do you honestly think she understands what you're saying, Lee," Sasuke asked.
"She appears to understand some of it," Shikamaru said. "Look at her face." Onari's face was horrified. Then her eyes and expression changed to sadness. She looked down.
"Neji bad mark," Onari said softly.
"His clan can't harm him anymore. That was changed when Naruto became Hokage," Sasuke said," Just like he promised. It's wrong to control someone else like that. Everyone should be accountable for their own actions. Everyone should be able to think for themselves."
"Onari bad mark," she said softly.
Sasuke picked up on her instantly. "Onari, what bad mark?" She withdrew, slinking back into a corner. He came towards her, crouching. "Onari? Hey, what mark?" She started chewing on her sleeves.
Shikamaru got worried. There was so much they didn't know about this girl. Her features were Asian, but she knew very little Japanese. Onari spoke a broken dialect of their language and had an accent. They had no idea where she came from, or if she had family elsewhere. "There has to be a reason why she is so curious about Neji all of a sudden. The look on her face is that of worry."
"Why worry about Neji's clan mark? No one from our village has ever been here before," Sasuke said. "She couldn't have seen it before." He reached forward, stopping Onari from chewing on her sleeves. It was a nervous habit of hers. "Onari, what bad mark do you have?" She lowered her gaze.
"I have an idea," Lee said. He lifted Sasuke's sleeve, showing the girl the cursed mark. "Onari, see? It's not the same as Neji's. There are good and bad marks. They're not all the same; each one means something different." She was watching him now, pondering over what he said.
"Maybe you should explain to her about yours," Shikamaru told Sasuke. "It might put her more at ease. We also might learn what she's referring to."
Sasuke sighed. The heaven mark placed on him by Orochimaru years ago, was still a sore subject. The only ones that knew of it were his friends and his family. He didn't like discussing it. "Onari, look." He took his green vest completely off. Onari was watching him, not understanding. He bent towards her, moving his shirt aside so she could see it. "I have a mark like Neji. It is a bad mark. It's not something I like others to know about. Do you understand?"
Onari nodded slowly. Two people had some sort of mark placed on them by someone else. They had confided in her what the marks meant. Her marks were everywhere. If they had similar ones, then maybe they would know what hers were. "Sasuke," she said softly, lifting her sleeves up for him to see her arms.
Sasuke's eyes softened as he tried to understand what he was seeing. All over Onari's arms were strange tattoos. They depicted pictures of birds and some form of strange writing. He reached over and took one of her arms so he could get a closer look. "What in the-," Shikamaru had never seen anything like this before. They were tattoos with some sort of special writing mixed in. "Who did that to her?"
"Onari, is that the only place the marks are," Sasuke asked. She shook her head. She pointed to her sides and back. "Can you show me, please?" Onari cautiously lifted the back of her shirt. Sasuke moved her hair out of the way. "They're all over her. I don't know what kind of writing this is."
"She's tattooed on both her arms and sides; even her back is covered. Onari, who did that to you," Lee asked the girl. The child shook her head. She couldn't remember.
"It must have happened when she was too young to remember. It's defiantly foreign. It isn't Japanese, or Chinese writing. I don't even recognize that as Korean. Look at the pictures on her back. All of the pictures on her back depict some form of nature. Birds," Shikamaru said as he pointed them out. "Is this what allows her to control the phoenix that aided us?"
"I wonder if Neji would know," Lee said. "He's familiar with stuff like that."
"So am I and I can't tell you heads or tails what it is," Shikamaru said.
Sasuke lowered the girl's shirt. "That explains why she only wears long-sleeved shirts. You're full of surprises, aren't you?" Onari tilted her head. "We don't know what the marks mean, Onari. Neji might know." The second he said 'Neji' Onari started to shake her head quickly. "Alright, why don't you want Neji to see? He could probably tell us what all of those symbols mean."
"She's scared of Neji like we all are," Shikamaru said.
"Who said I was scared of Neji," Sasuke said in his low, threatening voice.
"Guys, you're missing the point," Lee started. "If Onari doesn't want Neji to see, then we should respect her. She let us see it and now we know. We can try to find out what it all means on our own."
"I guess you're right," Sasuke said. He looked at Onari smiling. Onari blinked. He grabbed her and held her against him, rubbing her head. "We'll figure it out."
"Yeah, it just makes you more special," Shikamaru said.
"I wonder what's taking Kiba and Neji so long," Lee said as he started putting ornaments on the tree.
"Who knows. They're probably fighting, as usual," Shikamaru said.
