Just four more days of school!

Here's another chapter!

Great (Guest): I'll keep that in mind.

AlphaMike369: Well, read on and see what happens.

EDIT (12/6/17): Basic stuff, sentence fluency.

EDIT (1/5/18): Name changes.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I only own the plot of this story and my own original characters.

Nato felt as though he were in cart jouncing down a bumpy country road. He kept his eyes closed because he knew he couldn't possibly be in a cart. He was simply sleeping on solid ground in his tent. Wasn't he? Then, at a particularly large bump and the sound of jostling metal, Nato was forced to face the reality of his situation.

He opened his eyes. He was definitely not in his tent.

The boy was lying down with his head on Kahina's lap, Roni and Nila lying in front of him, the little girl's head in the crook of his elbow and her brother's on her stomach. Dimos sat next to his wife, his arm around her comfortingly as he spoke to Kahina in soft whispers. It was dark, and not in a comforting way. Then Nato finally noticed it. There were heavy, cold chains fastened their ankles and wrists together, leaving enough chain to walk and move arms about a meter apart, but not enough to run freely and swing fists at full power. He looked at his forearm and found a plain, slim metal band covering his Yaunkur mark. He saw similar ones on every other person in his line of sight.

He shot up, braided hair flying, accidentally jostling Nila and Roni from their sleep. Kahina gave a small start of surprise as her children awoke suddenly. Nato turned to her. "Kahina-oba, this isn't what I think it is, is it?"

She looked away and whispered in return. "I'm afraid so. It's my fault. My eye was closed to it. I didn't see it coming."

Her husband and children began to comfort her, along with some of the other Yaunkur in the cart, but movement suddenly halted, and the back doors to the cart were flung open, and dazzling light streamed in. It hurt Nato's eyes. Everyone stood up as far as they possibly could with the low ceiling, shuffling towards the open door at the command of a man's voice. With some effort, everyone managed to exit the cart, and Nato glanced back to see several other carts that looked exactly the same being unloaded, Yaunkur flowing out. He frowned. He couldn't see anyone older than sixty among them. Where were the Elders? He looked around some more. They were in a slave market, and Nato (even as dense as he was) knew what was going to happen to them.

"Be quiet, you filthy brats!" Nato whipped around, and upon seeing his little cousins on the dusty ground, the man (who Nato now recognized as Gyushin, the one pretending to be the coachman) preparing to strike them.

Nato felt a deep rage ignite in his bones, a degree of anger he never experienced before. As quick as a fox he smashed his chakra infused foot into the sneering man's groin, unheeding of the chains around his ankles. Gyushin doubled over with an expression of absolute agony.

But before the jinchuuriki could do anything more, he felt a palm slam against his back, and he collapsed, no longer possessing the power to even hold himself up. His surroundings faded once more.

Those who were left behind searched through the ruins of the camp. It was when they came across the large tent in which the meeting between the Elders took place that they saw the true damage done. There were thirteen charred corpses, exactly matching the number of Elders Hinata had come to love and adore. Hinata and quite a few other children leaned to the side and threw up.

Hinata had spent the first almost eight years of her life in an ancient shinobi clan, so she knew what death was. But she was also sheltered by her father as he wanted her to grow to be a perfect lady, a queen. To see the ones she had loved killed in such a way was too much.

After seeing that, Charo and Uwais (the other adult, a tall and agile and serious young man who looked much older than his years) ushered all but the oldest and most mature children back into the forest, away from the smoldering camp. The children barely spoke to one another in that time in the forest as they waited for their leaders to come back. All they could do was weep.

When they did come back, they left to scatter the ashes of the Elders, along with a few others, and the camp. To scatter what was left of their old life.

Nato watched in horror as one by one his fellow Yaunkur, his family, were marched onto the wooden platform, chains clanking, and sold off as if they were livestock, mere objects. How could people do this to them? How could they do this to anyone?

Now Nato was no stranger to the practice of slavery. They, the Yaunkur, were nomads and traders and as such they did a lot of traveling, so with everything that Nato had seen he had been bound to come across at least one slave market. Though the Yaunkur were not slave traders and had no desire to own any, these markets tended to be connected to others where they did sell some of their wares, forcing them to go through the slave markets.

Of course, this is not to mention the fact that Nato had always been very curious and full of energy, and sometimes it led him to unintentionally stumbling into places like these. He just never imagined or even considered the thought that him and his precious family would ever be the ones led in chains to that dreaded platform.

One essential reason for this was that the Yaunkur tended to spend most of their time in the Five Great Nations because of the fact that those nations had abandoned the practice of slavery a long time ago, unlike many of the smaller countries. (Not to say they didn't go to any of those smaller nations. They were traders and nomads, and as such they loved to see and visit different places.) The second and probably most important factor was the Land who protected them. However, for some unknown reason, this time she didn't, couldn't most likely. At least, that was what Nato hoped.

Why?

Because of the large seal which had been placed on his back while unconscious (and the metal band on his mark), Nato could do nothing but watch helplessly as his Aunt Kahina and Uncle Dimos were separated, sold to two different masters.

Why?

Nato clutched Nila and Roni at his sides, holding them tightly as they sobbed and called out to their parents. He made sure they didn't try to run to them or fight back at this moment, unaware of his own tears sliding down his whiskered cheeks. He didn't want them to make the same mistake as he did and be restrained even further. Because looking back on it now, he probably should have waited to use his power and chakra later when there was a better opportunity instead of lashing out and revealing his capabilities. Though he didn't regret kicking that man in–ahem–a very delicate place.

Why them?

The previous thought was quickly thrown away when the slavers grabbed his shoulders and attempted to tear him away from his cousins. His eyes flashed as he resisted, holding the two even tighter. When the twins realized that someone was now taking their big brother away too, they screamed and clung and kicked, determined to keep Nato.

More slavers came over to help stop the small rebellion. Nato kicked, clawed, scratched, and bit; he wouldn't leave his little cousins alone. They needed him!

He was thrown to the dusty dirt, face first. There was a whistle that sounded in the air as a whip came down sharply on Nato's back, and the eleven-year-old cried out softly, before biting down on his bottom lip. The whip came down four more times. With blood pouring from the broken skin of his lip he saw the one holding the whip move towards Roni and Nila. Forcing himself to stand even as pain flared up in fiery lines on his back, he shoved his way to them. He threw himself in the way of the descending whip and felt it leave a burning mark on his chest. Overwhelmed, he fell to the ground once again and laid there.

Through the haze of pain, he saw the whip fall on his cousins and heard them cry out, for their mother, their father, Hinata, and him.

Why them?

His hand lashed out and grabbed onto the man's ankle, his nails digging into it. The whip stopped its descend and the man's attention turned to Nato. The discipliner sneered and graciously gave Nato five more lashes.

Arms hauled him up from under his arms and dragged him to the platform. Nato reached one last time for the twins, his precious cousins, and they to him. Alas, they did not reach far enough.

WHY?

Nato found himself facing the large crowd that had shown up when word got out that members of the famous Yaunkur tribe were to be sold today.

The auctioneer began to speak. "From the information we have received, this eleven-year-old male was raised in the Head Family. He is known by most as Bright Soul. He is an apprentice healer, able to control the wind as easily as others talk and walk, can create wings for himself, has displayed remarkable stamina, spirit, regeneration, and determination, and has shown signs of some shinobi training." Nato faded in and out from the pain as more information was listed about him. "The bid starts at ten gold pieces."

Nato's eyebrows shot up at the price being asked. That was about what was needed for a small but decent house, a small fortune in its own. Most Yaunkur had started from around five to eight gold pieces.

An older woman's hand shot up as she called for it. Suddenly, dozens of other hands shot up like wild fire, and bids were thrown all over the place. Eventually it began to simmer down, and Nato glared defiantly through the flaring pain at the three remaining bidders.

"Fifty gold pieces, going once…twice…SOLD!"

The boy's back screamed as he was dragged from the stand and thrown into the closed back of a cart gestured to by his new 'master'. The chain around his neck was attached to a fixture on the wall inside. Before the door was completely closed Nato caught one last glimpse of his family, his family that was being torn apart and scattered to the wind. He threw himself against the door, banging on it repeatedly.

Why?

Through the cracks between wooden planks, Nato saw the scrawny, short man who had bought him. He was entering a fancy carriage that looked quite conspicuous in its surroundings. A man then grabbed the reins to the cart carrying Nato, snapping them. Nato was thrown back as the cart started with a jolt. As the carriage moved forward and headed out of the market place, the cart followed. It seemed as though the only person this man thought worth his money was him, even without staying for the auction of the others.

With each bump on the rocky road, Nato felt more and more despair weigh on his spirit. He lifted his forearm, looking longingly at the band covering the Yaunkur mark. Unlike usual, there was no comforting warmth coming from what was hidden beneath the metal. A tear fell onto the band.

"Why?" Nato whispered.

He received no answer.

The rest of the day was spent away from the site of the old camp. The adults and older children planned their next move. The thing was, they didn't really know what to do. Their entire tribe was missing and they had no idea where they could be. And Hinata couldn't stop thinking about Nato, wishing him to be safe, or at least to be smart, wherever he was. He had a tendency to anger people and act before he thought, traits that had gotten them into quite a few tight spots in recent years.

It was decided before too long. They would leave for Suna in the morning.

"Since we currently have a strong relationship with the Wind Country's Second Prince and he is nearest ally to our current position, we will head there tomorrow morning." Charo announced.

The weary group accepted this and laid their heads down on their pillows, ready to sleep even though it was still light outside. They couldn't quite find themselves to care that it was so, for in their hearts, the night had already begun.

The caravan of the master's carriage and his carts of goods had traveled for the rest of the day. At night the master slept in an inn, while his servants ate and rested outside. Nato, meanwhile was only brought out of the cart for a bathroom break, and then left in there all night without food. Half of the following day was also on the bumpy roads before arriving just before noon. The instant the cart stopped inside the mansion's gates, the doors were flung open and two slaves obviously higher up in the hierarchy jumped in to pull Nato out. One tightly wrapped the loose end of the chain attached to Nato's collar around his arm and the other removed the shackles around his ankles, giving Nato the ability to walk without tripping over everything.

They led him out of the cart and across the grounds to a separate, much smaller building from the main complex. From the corner of his eye, he saw the master being greeted by servant and lead into the mansion. He was roughly pulled inside by the one with his chain and forced to stand in the center of the chamber. Another slave woman walked in, carrying a basket full of white clothing and a bar of soap. Together, the two women stripped Nato, scrubbed him down from head to toe (hair included) with the soap and a bucket full of water, which had already been inside of the room. They washed around the chains on his wrists and the band circling his forearm. They rinsed him off and dressed him in the white sleepwear pants (leaving him with only bandages for a shirt), but not before cleaning and bandaging the wounds on his back and chest, something Nato was very grateful for.

Then they knelt him on the cold stone floor. Nato was shivering. One woman went back to the basket and pulled out a pair of scissors while the other toweled his shoulder length red-golden hair so that it was only slightly damp.

Nato's eyes widened as the metal scissors approached, getting closer and closer.

No no no no no no. Not that, please not that!

He stared unseeing at the stands of sun-colored hair that fell down around him, even as one of the many braids Hinata had woven in not a week earlier fell too.

For the Yaunkur, their long hair was a symbol of pride and honor for them, their family, and their tribe. That was why Nato and most of the clan kept it long, at least to the chin. And for Nato, it was much more than that. He loved the feeling of the wind blowing through the long strands and (secretly or course, as he couldn't openly admit it for the sake of his manly pride) he loved it when Hinata played with it. The long hair was a symbol of his freedom, and now that it was all being cut away, taken from him, his situation finally hit him full force.

I am a slave.

Nato was dimly aware of the last red-gold lock–the last tie to his family–falling to rest on the stone floor, and of one of the women pulling him back up into a standing position.

As the scissors were put away, another object came into view, brought in from a separate room. It was a glowing red iron stamp, hot and ready for use. Nato was well aware of what was to come next, but there was nothing he could do to prevent it.

Someone lifted his bare right foot from the ground and raised the bottom of it towards the ceiling. Then the branding mark came down across the top half of his foot. There was an unbearably hot pain, but Nato refused to cry out. He would not lose what last shards of pride he had remaining. They spread a cream on the mark, but rather than feeling soothing relief, the cream seemed to intensify the burn, eating away at his skin.

The man reattached the chains around his ankles, and led him into another room. Every step was painful. A long hallway stretched on and on, many doors looking quite like those you would see in prisons. The man led him almost to the very end of the hall, opening the second to last door on the left side. He attached the ends of the chains he was holding to a metal loop on the wall. Nato was in a position where he could lay his hands down by his side, but not stand. The man exited the tiny room and shut the door, locking Nato in sudden darkness.

It was so dark. Nato had never really been afraid of the dark, because for him there was never was. Besides, he often found solace in dark places when no one was there. He always felt as though another being reached out to him in the dark…it was nice. But now, the darkness felt like a monster trying to close in on him from all sides, only the faint light coming from beneath his skin keeping it at bay.

He reached a hand up and felt his hair. It was incredibly short, the shortest it had been since he was a very small child.

He remembered the brand. Nato carefully moved his right foot as far as he could towards his face, reading the words burned into his flesh. Inscribed in deep brown lines were some of the most horrible words the young boy had ever seen.

"Property of the Drongur Household"

The child curled in on himself and wept for the last time.