I do not own any of the characters or ideas created by Kishimoto Masashi. However Sayo and my original story line belong to me.
As Sayo stirred from her nightly slumber, she felt the heavy burden of her chest having been lifted. She had let her hatred go but there was still that voice that was warning her that her current arrangement with her father could just end up being temporary. Especially if he failed to recognise the hurt what the villagers were inflicting upon her day after day after day.
Her heart nearly skipped when she saw her father leaning against a wall nearby her bed. His entire composure was calm and welcoming and Sayo truly hoped that the words he had spoken yesterday were sincere.
Once she and her father had made eye contact, he had immediately taken the next step and he slowly took a place on the side of her bed. At first she found herself paralysed in a certain apprehensive state but as he extended his hand towards her, she felt her fear melting away.
She began by climbing out of the warmth of her bed covers and gradually crawled over to him. Before she was due to climb into his lap, she hesitated slightly until she saw his loving smile and she took the leap of faith and mannered into the security of her father's arms.
From the moment father and daughter were in proximity to one another, she felt his hand being placed onto the back of her head. She instinctually flinched when they came into physical contact and Sayo wondered if she would be be inclined to her father's affections once she saw that her father was actually going to keep his words and punish all of those who had caused her emotional disconcertment.
"We're going out into the village square today"
Sayo realised that her father had very carefully began to stroke the back of her head in a caressing motion and she found herself resisting the urge to bury herself into the comfort of his arms.
...
As Sayo leaned over the sink of her bathroom brushing her teeth, she began to consider the doubts which she was having. She knew from the events which had transpired before that she and her father had come to a truce. He may have thought of it as a permanent fix to their conflict but she knew better then to fully open her heart to him. Yesterday she had given herself over completely but today she realised that she still required to know whether or not she could actually rely on her father to shield her and punish those who had spoken cruel words against her.
She remained silent as her father started to dress her in her day clothes. She decided that speech was not necessary and she only permitted herself to ease to his touch to show him that just because of what had transpired the day before did not mean that he once again had control over his actions.
...
Dressing her in scarlet and violet, Sayo wondered if the trust which had existed between them would be that easily rekindled once the villagers were put in there place.
If only...if only he could show me that he does indeed care and punish those who have hurt me. And perhaps I will be able to look beyond all of those major faults he obviously has...
...
From the very moment that Sayo and her father had stepped out of the safe confines of their home, she immediately started to worry and wonder how exactly their trip to the village centre would differ to those she had taken before. She allowed herself to take the occasional glance towards her father as a way to try and deduce what exactly he was planning to do.
As they made their way further and further away from their home, she began to notice that her father hadn't requested any of the ANBU to accompany them. While she appreciated the security which such a group could offer her, she hoped that it meant that the villagers would simply shy away from them or do something which would show her father exactly how they had been saying callous things behind his back about her. And even though she was still in doubt about her father's trustworthiness herself, that didn't stop her from pondering upon her desire for her father to figure out what had occurred during the public presention on his own.
After a while she noticed other villagers going past them and she very nearly stopped in her steps had it not been her father who had somehow succeeded in worming his hand through her mental defences and thus he had taken her hand into his own. She had considered pulling her hand away from his grasp but as she saw more and more of the population walk past them and her father stroking her hand, she felt more inclined to enjoy the loving gestures of her father as well as the obvious security he offered her.
But the further they ventured into the village centre the more aware she became of their eyes. Many many eyes were filling her as if she were their pray and what frightened her greatly was that it was no longer just the shinobi population who were giving her dirty looks but also some of the civilians as well.
Her heart beat began to increase and she clenched together her free hand. There was a definite coldness to all of their glares there was no doubt about that and as she analysed the situation in more detail, she began to fear that those few shinobi who had shone light to the reality if her reputation within the village had most likely propogated their beliefs to the others who resided within the place that was Konoha.
All the other times she had come to the village square she had always made sure to hide away from plain sight and now that she was out in the open she felt more exposed then ever. And the worst thing was that from her father's carefree expression alone, it was as if he was completely oblivious to everything which was happening around them.
...
And after some time of passing by many shops, Sayo felt her father pulling towards one shop in particular. It was a large two story building and it was painted in a pale yellow. There was no sign over the door but Sayo had already began to have theories of what was contained inside such a glowing place.
"I thought that it was appropriate for you to come along and chose your own clothes. After all sweetie, haven't you been so eager to make your own choices"
Sayo could not help glance towards his father and see a broad smile erupt upon his face.
From the moment that the two of them had entered the store, Sayo was left completely awestruck by the paraphernalia inside. As they entered the store to the left hand side they saw rows and rows of dresses, skirts, trousers, shorts and shirts which was no doubt dedicated to girls while on the right hand side there were all those small clothes which would suit boys more then anything.
Sayo did not know why her father had chosen to bring her of all places, but there was a small voice in the back of her mind that he was bribing her to comply with his plans for her life.
Her excitement escalated when her father had taken her to the second floor to show her all of the cuddly toys and games available. She did see books of course, but a part of her was disappointed that none of these titles would benefit her search to acquire more knowledge about the shinobi world in which they lived.
Is this his way of telling me that I should cease my quest of independence and simply embrace the ignorance of childhood?
Once they had returned to the found floor once more, Sayo was met with the twinkling eyes of her father.
"You like it in here, don't you?"
Sayo immediately recognised a certain element of playful taunting within his voice and rather then succumb to it but moaning she responded in a neutral tone:
"Yes the clothes here are extravagant and there is a large selection"
She saw her father's face hardened in annoyance. It was obvious that he had hoped for her to answer as a near five year old would and not like a thirteen year old.
She felt him put his hand on the back of her head and this forced the two of them to gaze into each other's eyes. Whenever her father put her on the spot like this, it always made her feel small and vulnerable much like a proper five year old.
I can't succumb to his hold just yet, I must make sure...I must make sure that he will indeed make my woes go away and punish those villagers who look upon me as if I were a weak child unable to surpass or even come close to the fame of my parents.
...
Within a few seconds Sayo found herself hurrying into the the clothes aisles. As it so happened she preferred to avoid any more uncomfortableness between her and her father, and instead redirect her attention to choosing clothes that wouldn't make her look like a miniature china doll.
She chose non-frilly dresses of dark violets, blues, blacks and oranges. These were colours which she had seen many kunochi wearing around the village and she hoped that in adopting their style, she would appear to be more grown up. She then went onto gathering together shirts, trousers and shorts of a similar array of colours and noticed her father's disapproving eyes at her even daring to consider to wear trousers.
Those reproachful eyes continued even as her father's grinned warmly as she paraded the many new outfits in front of him. She was sure that her father was attempting to hide his difficulty with her path to independence through that incredibly wide smile of his. However that didn't mean that she stopped her display, no...she didn't want her father to catch on that she was waiting for him to do so. Because if he didn't figure out for himself what had occurred during the public presentation then it signified that he was simply an inadequate father.
While her father's disapproving gaze slowly disappeared, Sayo's uncomfortable face soon became apparent as the two of them made their way towards the cashier. She instantly became conscious of the other shoppers and how they seemed to be watching her from the very corner of their eyes. And what was even worse was the judgemental looks which the cashier was giving her at the counter. She was certain that if she hadn't been exposed so openly during the public presentation then she won't have noticed their cruel and critical stares.
Sayo felt herself being able to breath a little better once they had exited the store. Her father appeared to be his usual controlling yet jolly self which meant that he had most likely not taken notice of their hurtful glares.
And then she turned to her father who had the shopping bags in hand and saw his warm smile. Overcome by her feelings of gratitude for how easily he had cooperated with all of her clothes choices, she immediately ran forward and stretched her arms around her father's middle. And before she noticed it for herself, her father had moved the bags to his elbows and effectively wrapped his own arms around her tiny form.
For the next ten minutes father and daughter stood with their arms around each other as if their lives depended on it. And it was her father who had eventually broken the silence.
"What's wrong Sayo?"
Sayo gazed upwards and smiled broadly, knowing full well what she needed to do in circumstances such as these.
"Thank you, thank you so very much Daddy for all of the lovely clothes you have brought me" she made sure to put on an extra lipse in her tone to gain the approval of her father.
And before she realised what was going on, her father had slowly but surely leaned forwards and placed an affectionate peck onto her forehead.
It's a pity that there is no one around to see this, or otherwise father would have figured out what has gone wrong by now...