Chapter Nine: Markings
Mama made sure we were always happy. She took us out as often as she could, even as her health got worse and worse. She bought us whatever we needed or wanted...trained us as best she could.
Naruto and I were now working on our chakra control...we were ahead of most children our age knowledge wise...
We would be great ninjas someday.
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"Pssst! Sakura-chan!" Naruto whispered as my brother and I sat under a play set. Sasuke had to stay home that day, so Naru-kun and I had decided to make up for it by carrying out the first stage of our plan.
"Akiko...Naruto." She said quietly making her way over to us.
"Hello Sakuraa-chan!" I greeted happily, "Sasuke-nii couldn't come over today, so your stuck with just me and Naruto-nii."
"A-Alright..." She seemed a little embarrassed by how happily I greeted her, which was weird. She looked up at me, a curious look in her bright green eyes, before she looked at Naru-kun, and then back at me, "Why do you call them your brothers? You three look nothing alike..."
I felt my smile falter for a moment, "Well...they are my brothers. Mama and I adopted Naruto-kun because he had no family...and Sasuke is actually my cousin, but pretty soon...Naru-kun and I will be living with him...so he's our brother now too."
"Why are you going to live with Sasuke-kun?" She asked.
Naru-kun looked a little disappointed about something, but then he shook his head and turned to me, "Should we terr her?"
I giggled when he mispronounced his 'L's, but then became more serious, "No. Too Serious."
Sakura looked between us in confusion, a hurt look crossing her face, "I-I can understand...you don't want to tell me..."
"No." I said, feeling overwhelming depressed, "I just...I can't talk about why...it hurts too much."
She seemed to understand that.
"So!" Naru-kun said, "Sakura-chan, are you going to become a kunoichi when you get older?"
"Um...well...I don't know. My Mom doesn't want me to..." Sakura looked down sadly.
"Well...she can't make all your decisions...It's your future." I said, feeling very mature.
"What about you two? Are you going to be ninjas?"
"I'm going to be HOKAGE!" Naru-kun declared loudly, jumping to his feet and pumping his fist, "Dattebayo!"
I giggled, "I'm going to be super strong...I want to be like the Sannin..."
"Who are the Sannin?" Sakura asked curiously.
I burst out into my story-telling mode, telling her all about Princess Senju Tsunade, Jiraiya the Super Pervert and Orochimaru the Missing Nin. I wasn't sure how I knew all of it, but it all just...flowed out like I'd said this a million times.
"So...Tsunade-san saves lots of people? And she's really strong?"
"Yup! I bet if you had good charka control, you could be just like her!" I grinned excitedly, before scrunching up my nose, "You know...minus the Sake."
Sakura giggled at that.
Laughter was good. It meant she was relaxed.
"M-Maybe I could be a medical Kunoichi? I won't have to fight in the front lines...So Mom wouldn't have to worry...and I can save lots of people!" Sakura said, just as excited as we were, "I wanna be a kunoichi!"
"Well...maybe we can play Ninja?" I suggested.
Naru-kun and Sakura looked interested.
"We're all from separate villages, and there is a massive fight at the borders...we have to fight for our countries!"
"B-But...won't that hurt?" Sakura asked, looking alarmed.
I shook my head, "It's only play fighting, we won't even hit each other. Besides, you'd probably hurt us more than we'd hurt you."
"What do you mean by that?" She asked.
"Well you've got your super streng-" I cut off, rubbing my temples.
'Not yet, stupid. When she's a lot older.' I frowned at the thought, not really sure what it meant. wasn't even sure where it came from.
"Oh...so I have super-strength like Tsunade-san?" Sakura asked.
"Ah! I'll have a big dog like the Inuzuka!" Naruto called out.
I grinned, forgetting the odd thought, "I'll have a puppet controlled by chakra strings!"
At this, we came out from under the play set and ran to an open spot on the grass.
"I'm from Suna!" I declared, since it matched my puppet technique. Mama had told me all about the other countries and some of their techniques.
"I'll be from Konoha!" Naruto said, "Since I'm gonna be Hokage and all..."
"Um- I'll be...from...ah..."
"Sakura could be the Hanakage from Niwa!" I suggested.
"Where's that?" Naruto-nii asked.
"No where. I made it up, just for Sakura-chan."
"I like it..." She said, smiling sweetly, "Alright...B-Bring it on, Fifth Hokage and Kazekage! Niwa shall not fall!"
"This land belongs to the people of Fire Country!" Naruto proclaimed.
Some of the other kids stopped to see what we were doing.
"Do not forget about me! Suna shall claim this land and its fertile soil! You stand no chance."
"We'll see about that!" Sakura shot back before the three of us charged at each other. I pretended to be my puppet, moving in a slightly jolting way.
Naruto motioned with his had, calling his dog, Yokoito into the battle.
Sakura pretended to charge her arm with chakra before slamming it into the ground.
It went on like this for a while. I noticed people standing around to watch, so I guess we were being very convincing. Some people were glaring, but they weren't important.
Eventually, my puppet was pulverized by Sakura's strength, and I was forced to fight hand to hand with Naruto. Yokoito had been poisoned by my puppet and was paralyzed.
Sakura had been greatly wounded by the dog before the poison took effect, and she was forced to stop fighting and retreat from the battle. Now she too was watching us.
Naruto and I began to actually connect our hits, using some of the katas Mama had taught us.
I heard Mama congratulating Sakura on a fight well fought, as I dodged some of Naruto-nii's attacks.
"Ha! Hokage, you are getting sloppy! Are you already so tired?" I pretended to sweep his feet out from under him.
"A-As if!" Naru-nii wheezed, pretending to sound like an old person, pushing himself to his feet after having thrown himself down, "I could keep this up all day!'
"Even with my poison inside you?" I asked, my voice coming out sounding kinda scary as I twisted away from him as his fist shot out. I tried to kick him in the side, but he caught my ankle and pushed me away.
"What?!" Naruto cried out, "Kazekage...when did you-"
"When my puppet head-butted you...there are pores in its skull that release a paralytic gas...you, like your companion, shall fall under it!" i stood a bit away from him and laughed like a crazy person.
"As if!" Naruto protested, before he landed a light kick in my gut.
I ran backwards, pretending he had kicked me really far and backed up into a tree, before pretending to whack my head against the trunk.
I then, putting the back of my hand against my forehead, proceeded to fall over, as though unconscious.
A few people clapped, and I could hear Sakura giggling like mad. Naruto was running around proclaiming he was victorious, as usual.
I popped up to my feet and skipped over to Mama. She patted me on the head. She was on the Baby side. Not the Prune Person side...well...sometimes she treated my like a prune person.
"Sakura!" We looked over to see her mother stomping over. Sakura turned to us, "I-I gotta go..."
We nodded and said goodbye, quickly making our retreat.
Sakura-chan's Mama was scary.
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"You know...you probably shouldn't play such violent games, you two." mama said as we were heading to the local library.
"Why? Naru-nii asked, "It's fun."
"I know...but a lot of kids your age are usually playing with their stuffed animals and blocks at your age...not...the Fourth Shinobi War."
"B-But..." I protested, "W-We're not like most kids our age..."
"No...you're not. You two are very smart for your age. You both paid attention during your classes...but it might be easier if in public...you act a bit less violent. Next time...play tag. Save beating each other up for morning training."
I think...I got what she wanted us to do. Stop playing ninjas...because the people in town were afraid of us already...they didn't need to see Naru-kun acting violently as a child.
"Yes Mama." I said.
Naruto looked towards me in confusion, "Eh? Aki-chan, why should we?"
"If you're going to be Hokage, you need to show that you can be peaceful in times of peace." I replied in 'Sammy'.
His eyes widened before he nodded quickly, "Got it! I'll be really peaceful!"
He then closed his eyes and took in a slow breath, and then exhaled a few seconds later. He took relaxed steps, still keeping up with us, but not running ahead.
This continued on until we were in the library. I pulled Naruto towards a large shelf. We usually read kids' books, not the ones with little pop-up folds or lots of pictures though, but today I felt like trying something a little harder.
I usually got a book meant for seven year olds, and then shared it with Naru-nii. We'd sit down and take turns reading each page.
I scanned through the titles. I couldn't read some of them, because they had a bunch of words I couldn't even pronounce. Others just sounded scary.
"I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" Naruto suddenly shouted, making me jump in shock. A small squeak escaped my lips and I spun around to stare at him.
People looked up from their books and a couple glared at him, while others quickly went back to reading. The librarian huffed before bringing a finger to his lips.
I smiled to him apologetically.
"That whole peaceful thing is too hard..." My brother grumbled quietly. I snickered, placing a hand on his shoulder. What a silly big brother.
I couldn't really call him my little brother. He was a couple days younger than me, but he was also taller than me. He was my big little brother.
I settled for just letting him be the big brother.
We picked a book called 'The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Ninja'. I chose it because something about it screamed for us to read it.
Naru-nii thought it sounded cool.
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One day, Mama made me stay home while Naruto went to Sasuke-nii's. She had me sit in the dining room while she began setting out a couple items in front of me.
One was a large scroll that looked pretty old. The second was a bottle of ink that looked just as old. The third was a strange looking senbon that appeared to be hollowed out.
I knew what we were doing instantly. I noticed a few other kids in the village had markings...Like the Inuzuka clan or the Akimichi clan.
Mama had markings too. She told me that everyone on her side of my family used to have them. I knew Mama hadn't told Fugaku-san about this yet. He would be really mad.
Mama wasn't from the Uchiha clan, obviously, and I knew he didn't like her using the name...This would really bother him if he found out that I was going to be getting markings like Mama's while still carrying Papa's name.
But...what was life without ticking a few people off? You can't please everyone.
"Akiko...I think its time you received my clan's markings. You are the last child I know of that carries our blood line..."
I lived my life to please very few people. The number one person I wanted to always be happy was Mama...so of course I would accept the Saisei clan markings.
"I would be honoured to accept these markings." The words came out a bit too formal, but Mama and I did know when we had to be proper about them. Even if we hated being proper.
It wasn't a massive ceremony. Instead, we settled at the dining room table while Mama began glancing over the scroll in front of her one more time.
I looked to Mama's eyes where the red tattoos sat. They were very simple. It was just a single, thin line that started under the eyebrow and ended partway down the cheek bone.
I knew this was going to hurt though.
The eyelid was a very sensitive part of the body...
I wasn't even sure it could be tattooed.
Mama seemed to know I was worried.
"Don't worry Aki-chan. You'll be fine. I got mine when I was only a couple years older than you...and I didn't cry or anything. You can be a big girl for me...right?"
I nodded, falling for the non-too-subtle manipulation she threw in there. I may be smarted than the average three-year-old, but there were times when I needed to be a little kid.
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"Aki-chan! Mama!" Naruto called as he entered the house. I snickered at how awkward he sounded, calling Mama, Mama.
It must have been because Mama was a word in 'Sammy'.
"In here, Naruto!" Mama called. She patted my head reassuringly. Currently, my eyes were covered in bandages so my tattoos could heal.
"Sasuke almost killed me aga- WHAT HAPPENED TO AKIKO!?" Naru-kun yelled as, I believe, he walked into the room.
I giggled at his reaction, "Nothing Naru-nii. Mama gave me my Saisei markings."
"Oh! You mean those lines?"
"Yep!" I grinned.
"Alright...how about you two go play while I start on dinner tonight?
Naruto and I nodded before I heard him run along. I hesitated to leave my chair. Finally, I got off the piece of furniture and took a step forward.
By the time i reached my room, I swear I had managed to hit everything in the house.
It was then that I decided to add 'blind' training to my night time practices.
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My night time practices were getting more intense. After I learnt to push the chakra into my feet to walk silently, I began other things. Like tree walking.
I once saw Ita-oniisan trying it, and it looked like a lot of fun. At the time, I hadn't known for sure how to use it...but I was beginning to figure all this out.
I pushed the chakra to my feet and sprinted towards the tree in our yard. I managed to get two steps up before the chakra in my feet seemed to stop, and I came sliding down.
I bit back a growl and a number of hateful curses.
'It's alright. I have plenty of time.' I thought to myself. After all...Mama said we probably wouldn't join the academy until we were six, or eight, and then we'd graduate around eleven with the other kids our age.
From what I could understand, my chakra wasn't balanced...I was book smart, but I was also weak. Most girls were. I needed to change this. I needed to be stronger.
'Calm down. Remember? I've got plenty of time. Plenty of time...'
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The sky was crying, as it often did, adding more water to the already soggy earth. There was a battle raging...
A man with white hair fought his students. The blue haired woman had grown up to be beautiful, even as her papers tore into his skin.
The man wondered where one of his students was...why the orange haired one had the eyes of his red-haired companion.
Sannin or not, the white haired man stood no chance. The three children he had taken care of had grown up to be powerful...He came to realize that the red-haired boy, a man now, was not the 'Child of Prophesy', like he had hoped.
The scene changed.
Six people stood facing each other not far from a bounty post, hidden in a bathroom.
Two of the men present wore black cloaks, decorated in blood red clouds lined in white. One wore a mask to cover his face, only showing his oddly coloured eyes, while the other barely wore his cloak, letting it fall off one shoulder.
The other four were Konoha ninjas...a three man squad, along with a jounin sensei.
A fight broke out, and the second man in a cloak took on the ninjas, swinging his scythe around.
Time blurred forward.
The sensei clutched his chest as blood poured freely from his wound. Across from him, the silver-haired man fell over, dead, just like the sensei.
Only the silver-haired man didn't stay dead. He got up again.
Time rolled backwards, going further and further back-
A lumbering monster stood over Konoha. Nine tails lashed out, destroying and killing. Its chakra was so thick, so powerful, that she could feel it pressing down on her, making it impossible to cry out- What the hell was this?!
Further back. Further and further back-
BANG!
Pain, pain, pain- Are they okay? Please tell me they got away...
I sat up with a scream, and the noise just kept coming.
I apologize for the long wait, I've been very busy working on one of my other stories...
A massive thanks goes out to xenocanaan, ShatteredRose212, Guest and Himeno Kazehito!
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I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please feel free to tell me what you think!