Chapter 9: Snow

A/N: In reference to the first Naruto movie, the generator in Snow Country is not yet fixed; it's still winter.


It was snowing.

Toriya had actually never seen snow before. At first, the white substance falling gently from the gray skies above had been beautiful, tranquil, and welcoming. Snowflakes hung onto wisps of her brown hair, and she felt like the only person in the entire white world of silence. Occasionally, the fuzzy snout of an arctic fox or the alert eyes of a white rabbit would snuffle its way out of the shady woods but would disappear when Toriya tried to get a second look, as though the sight was all but an apparition. And she would continue her walk in solace.

When the lazy snow whipped into a malicious storm, she shivered in her winter coat (purchased before entering Snow Country, as she had never needed such a thick coat in her life before) and began to curse the freezing temperature and mushy snow that made her walking difficult and traveling a pain. This was one of the times when she wished she could control fire; wind, earth, and water were practically innocuous against the raw cold, although earth jutsu could create a pathetic sort of shelter against only the icy blasts.

Finally, after braving days of hail and snow and wishing that Tsumemaru's wings could endure the cold to give her a comfortable lift, she reached Yukigakure in a tattered mood. At the sight of the village, she immediately perked up.

There was a gorgeous palace on a snow-covered butte in the distance, twinkling like a dainty sculpture. At its feet were rows of houses with snow-covered roofs: it looked a tranquil winter land with frosted gingerbread houses and a sugarcane castle. A few children, bundled in scarves and thick clothing, were frolicking outside their houses; one of the boys was hit by a flying snowball and plopped into the snow, crying in shame and surprise.

She approached an old lady supervising the children.

"Excuse me, baa-san. Is there a boy here who has a demon inside him?"

"A demon boy?" the old lady said in surprise. "You must mean Tokage Shiro. No one dares to approach him. He constantly comes and attacks us. Scares the poor children half to death!"

"Does he…" Toriya murmured. "Where can I find him?"

"You mean to seek such a dangerous boy? If you must, he lives in that cave over yonder."

Toriya glanced at where her finger was pointing. There, in the craggy body of a towering snow-covered mountain, was a crevice. She thanked the old lady and then hurried toward the said cave, the lady's distasteful words of fear ringing in her ears.

Well, Tokage Shiro can't be worse than Gaara, she thought grimly.

Upon reaching the cave, she peeked inside and saw nothing but darkness and nebulous shapes that could either be human or rocks.

"Good day, Shiro-kun. Are you there?"

Silence, then—

BOOM.

Toriya staggered backwards, reeling in shock as rocks the size of her head sailed past her. She jumped out of the way just as a huge webbed foot struck the ground where she had been.

"Shiro-kun, there's no need to be so violent," she said, trying to appease him while dodging more falling rocks.

BOOM.

Now a long tail whipped towards her. Apparently, Shiro didn't get the message. Toriya sighed.

"Nee, Shiro-kun," she called out, "I don't want to fight you, but I'll use force if I must to make you listen to me."

BOOM.

Now a burst of snow as a result of the flailing tail came flying her way.

Force it is, then.

She made some hand seals and pressed her right fingers toward the ground.

"Doton: Splitting Earth Jutsu!"

A gashing line stretched its way toward the mountain, and with a giant roar, the wave of snow dispersed and the mountain cracked in two, caving into the attacker inside.

Snow and rocks swirled everywhere. A giant, white, scaly lizard with gleaming orange eyes stampeded out and lashed out its tail like a whip, sending a rain of snow, more rocks, and Toriya flying.

Without hesitation, the lizard proceeded to open its pointed mouth and released a hail of icicles the size of terriers toward Toriya, who quickly responded with Futon: Sonic Wave Jutsu. Again, she was surprised, this time at how her solidified air rings shot through the large icicles almost without difficulty…

Toriya understood immediately.

She flickered under the lizard and delivered a devastating blow towards its soft belly.

"ROOAAAWWRGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

And with a deafening roar that shook the snow from all trees in the vicinity, gobi turned into a boy no older than eight with tousled silvery white hair. There were scratches and bruises all over his arms, legs, and face, and his eyes (as orange as the gobi's, Toriya noticed) were blazing with detest and fury. She was a head taller than he was, which cheered her up because she hated to be shorter.

She grinned at him in complacent victory.

"So you're Shiro-kun, eh? I guess your transformation is all size but no substance."

Shiro simply glared at her.

Later, in another cave not far from the recently collapsed mountain, Toriya mulling over the drastic geographical change while healing a disgruntled Shiro.

"There, all better," Toriya said, patting Shiro, who was now bruise-less and scratch-less.

He ignored her, instead choosing to sullenly look outside the cave at the white snow. Toriya in turn was watching the boy, how his hair was the same color as snow and—

"Shiro-kun, why do you hate people so much?"

"…"

"That's fine if you won't tell me…but, you know, the villagers are afraid of you."

"Hmph, they deserve it," Shiro said scornfully. "They always treat me so badly just because a lizard demon is inside me."

From past experiences, Toriya knew it was prudent to wait patiently.

"My parents and sister died in an avalanche that the demon lizard caused," Shiro continued, still staring outside. "The medic from the palace sealed gobi inside me, sacrificing himself in the process. But it was a hasty seal. I get sudden violent urges and start attacking people. Everyone shunned me. I passed my childhood struggling to survive in the streets.

"Then kids started to bully me. They called me a monster and jeered in my face. I couldn't stand it after a while, and I… lost control of myself."

Shiro buried his head in his raised knees. When he spoke again, his voice was cracked with emotion.

"Then… I fled. I've been living in the wild for so long. It's just... it's not fair! I never asked to carry a demon!!!"

He broke off and began sobbing, his tears dotting the stone ground of the cave. Toriya watched him with pity and guilt, strongly reminded of Gaara.

"I know this boy," Toriya began slowly, "who also has a fearsome bijuu sealed inside him. It was a sand demon that lusted for bloodshed and killing, and everyone ran away from him."

She paused. Shiro was crying silently, but he was listening.

"But then he began to change. He learned the gift of life and how to care for other people. He learned to love and to receive love in return. Eventually, he became the village's leader whom everyone respected rather than feared.

"So you see, Shiro-kun, you still have a chance. If you really want to be accepted, learn how to love. After a while, they'll accept you, and you'll be happy."

"It sounds like a fairy tale ending," Shiro sniffed. He wiped the tears on his face with his sleeve.

"True… but it's a true story. I know him." Toriya smiled. "He's my friend."

Taking in her words, Shiro turned around and faced her. His eyes were puffy from crying, but his orange eyes were glinting with hope.

"Why do you talk to me when no one else does?" he asked in a whisper.

"Well… let's say I want to understand you better," Toriya replied cheerfully. "I can't say that I understand your pain, but I know your distress at being a demon vessel because… well—" Here her voice dropped. "I'm one too."

Shiro hiccupped and stared at her in new reverence.

"The rokubi," Toriya said in response to his silent question.

"Do you think… the village could someday care for me?"

"Of course! You could put that lizard into use. Maybe you could protect the village one day."

"Really?" Shiro's eyes were like small oranges now.

"With training," Toriya added, thinking of his incomplete transformation. "You need to build up some strength behind those attacks."

He smiled feebly. Toriya could see a kind-hearted boy behind his myopia of pain.

"You remind me of my sister. What's your name, nee-san?"

"Toriya."

He grinned toothily and scrambled to his feet, dragging her along with him outside.

"Let's go, Toriya nee-san!"

Toriya smiled at the little boy.

As she helped Shiro acquaint with the villagers, especially the cautious children (quite easily because Shiro was actually a very bouncy, happy boy outside of his gobi state), she wondered if she should have told him about Akatsuki.

No, she thought firmly. It's better than he doesn't live with that knowledge that S-class criminals are trying to hunt him down and kill him. I'll keep an eye on him using the birds though.

A week later, Toriya prepared to leave Yuki, greatly satisfied that she had saved a poor boy, a fellow jinchuuriki, from misery.

"Toriya nee-san!"

She turned and greeted Shiro, who was running towards her, a small lumpy package clutched in his hand.

"Toriya nee-san," he panted when he reached her, "I want to thank you for helping me. I think I understand what you were saying."

"That's good, Shiro-kun. Just remember to not lose control of yourself."

"I'll try! Oh, and I wanted to give you this…"

He opened the package to reveal a crystal necklace. The cerulean jewel was shimmering like a tiny chunk of the ocean under the gray sunlight, reflecting an illusion of a sky a shade so achingly blue that it felt like home.

Home… Mizuiro mean "sky blue," Toriya-chan. We are the masters of the blue sky. We yield the power of wind.

An overwhelming sensation suddenly clutched Toriya's heart and lungs. It billowed and swelled until she let out a breath she wasn't aware she had been holding.

The wind and the sky are your friends, your family.

"This belonged to nee-san," Shiro said, bright-eyed, "but I want to have it because you've been like a sister to me."

Sister… Family…

Toriya took the necklace with slightly trembling fingers.

Protect your family.

"Arigatou, Shiro-kun," she murmured.

The crystal felt blissfully cold against her warm hands. As she gazed at the shiny necklace, snow began to fall again, drifting down from the heavens onto the winter world below like fairies. She looked up and thought that the day had never been more beautiful.


Glossary:

Gobi – Five-Tail (haha Gobi Desert)

Tokage – lizard

Shiro – white

A/N: Rejoice! I'm done marinating the plot and compressing chains of events into only a few chapters. These might seem like random detours, but they will pop up again later. In the meantime, I shall return to the main road of the story, starting with the next chapter. I still don't own Naruto.

Now, I don't like to request for an x number of reviews before posting the next chapter, but do drop one off because I enjoy reading comments from my readers. I don't bite. Happy August!