WHEN I WAS JUST A GIRL, my dreams were blank. I knew they were dreams because I was alone with my mind during this time. Quite literally. I sat in the middle of a dark room. My body told itself not to move because I wasn't sure what I would find. A dark abyss surrounded me and I knew there was something out there waiting to grab me. I knew because I could hear someone calling my name and occasionally there would be a noise that sounded as if someone was trying to break through the door inside my mind. The voice was a new person every night. Sometimes I could recognize them and other times I could not. Each night they would only call out my name. That's all they would ever say.

"Yumi. . ."

"Yumi..!"

"Yumi!"

I was always pulled from those dreams with a weird pain in my chest. I was scared to move in my head, but I would wake up feeling as though I had disappointed someone. I left someone behind and hurt them, but who? I was only eight at that time and hadn't yet figured it out.

Those dreams were soon replaced by relentless nightmares and it was all thanks to this fateful day. . .

The morning sun had already pulled me away from the dark abyss when my dad quietly entered my room. He did this every morning so that he was able to have breakfast with all of his kids before heading off to do his job. He was a diplomat for our village meaning that he was a very busy man and seeing his family all together would bring him great amounts of joy throughout the day.

The springs that held my bed up creaked as he slowly inched over to me. I had my eyes squeezed shut, not ready to actually get up for the day. He saw right through my deception and told me through a laugh.

"I know you're awake, Yumi. You know you can't fool me," My dad's silvery voice tried to get me out of bed, but I wanted to see if I could really fool him this time around. I kept my eyes tightly squeezed as he continued to watch and wait for me to wake up. He then pulled out his most ultimate trick to wake me up. "Your mom made some chocolate muffins for breakfast."

With those words, I was immediately up from my sleeping position. My wide eyes glimmered with hope as they started at him, "Did she really?"

Instead of getting the immediate answer that I wanted, I instead got my dad's boisterous laughter. He was a radiant and happy man. He could never be mean to a single soul and would even feel bad for stepping on the grass outside. I try to take after him a lot by trying to shine as bright as he does. I sometimes even stand in front of the mirror and practice his smile.

His brown skin was only slightly darker than mine causing his light blonde hair to stick out on the top of his head. I mostly took after my mom who had more of a golden brown skin town and dark brown hair with plenty of curls decorating it, but I had my father's bright yellow eyes and I even had a matching beauty mark with him under one of my eyes.

Once his laughter calmed down he answered me, "No. I was only saying that because I knew it would get you out of bed. But she has made breakfast for you and your siblings. I have an important meeting today so I have to run off early. Now get ready so I'm not late!"

I hated when I wasn't at the academy. Those days meant that I had to help with chores around the house with my annoying siblings and never get a moment for myself. Speaking of those siblings, it was time for the first fight of the day...who would use the bathroom first.

The bathroom was just across from my room so it would seem like I had easy access to it, right? Well add my lightning fast brother and my sister who would trail right behind him. Lucky me, there they were, already speeding towards it.

My eyes locked on the bathroom as I launched myself forward to get inside. My brother, Michi was too fast though. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me away from the door while also trying to push me into the wall. I growled in frustration while launching myself at him and trying to push him over to the ground.

"Get off of me you lard!" His words retaliated my actions, but I kept going with trying to hold him back from getting to the bathroom first.

I tried to turn us around so that I could be a step ahead and get inside that bathroom, but little did I know, my sister, Nari, already had both feet on that tile floor. She watched as her siblings fought one another to get where she was with a nasty smirk.

She stuck her tongue out at us with a little giggle, "Losers."

Before she could close the door and make us wait for her to get out, I was ready to attack her next so that I could be first for once, but of course dad had to get in the way to stop our reckless fighting.

"That's enough!" We all froze at the sound of his booming voice. "Go in one by one with no fighting or you can just watch each other pee, understand?"

"Yessir," We all spoke in unison.

That was the second half of my morning. It would all settle down once dad had stepped in between all of us. Nari would go first since she was the most level headed one of the group, then Michi because he was the oldest, then finally I would go.

The third part of my morning was eating breakfast. Sometimes my mom would cook something good for us, other times she would just find something quick to make like toast. This morning was one of those mornings that I would be blessed with my mom's cooking.

I wasn't as close to my mom as I was with my dad. I thought she was on the stranger side of the world. She was sweet and loving, everything a mom should be, but she was also constantly paranoid for reasons unknown. When I would go shopping with my mom, she would constantly have her head on a swivel and would hold me close to her side. She always made sure none of us were alone at any time of time and would always do a perimeter check of the house. Maybe her mom was the same way. I wouldn't know because her side of the family is kept a secret.

But she was still my mom and I loved her dearly. I loved all of my family no matter how much of a nuisance some of them can be.

My dad rushed into the kitchen with his formal work attire. His eyes met the clock hanging high on the wall and exhaustedly sighed, "I'm going to be late if I don't head off now." He went over to my mom and laid a hand on the curve of her waist. He put a kiss on her cheek while she messed around with breakfast. She turned to face him as he pulled away from her. They smiled at each other and looked within one another with love and admiration. They loved each other so much it physically pained me to look at them, but deep down I've always wanted what they had. "Goodbye dear." He snatched a muffin from her tray and came towards us. "Please be kind to your mother today so I don't have to punish you when I come back home."

Then he made his way around the table and kissed us each on our heads as his way of saying goodbye, he kissed my head last because I'm secretly the favorite. He just won't say it out loud. We all said our goodbyes and Nari made sure to wish him luck with his meeting today.

When the door closed our mom came around and gave us each a singular muffin, "I made enough for you guys in case you want some more later." Then she shined her motherly smile. A smile filled with warmth and comfort, one that no one else could ever bear.

After we ate, the fourth part of my day had started. The longest and most dreadful part. I always helped around the house whenever I could whether that be with dishes, sweeping, or whatever my mom told me to do. Nari would be by my side helping while Michi would find an excuse to lounge around in his room.

My siblings aren't as bad as I'm describing them right now. In fact they're pretty useful to me. Nari was only four years older than me and saw that as a way to be my mentor. She always gave me advice when it comes to looks or personality tips. She was kind like my mother, but that was overshined with how annoying she could be sometimes.

Michi aspires to be a great and renowned ninja in the world someday so while he may eat everything in the pantry and lounge around instead of doing chores, he also did a lot of training. Most days I would get to watch him train and sometimes he would even teach me some moves. He would also help me with my academy homework from time to time, but since we're on break I tend to just avoid him.

Some point during the day when we were all done with chores around the house, I would try to find something to do. My mother was a great cook and I was slowly starting to fall in her footsteps. Somedays I would join my mom in cooking something small for lunch. She would tell me that it tastes great as she dumped in her special mailbox called the trash can. Yes I know you may be thinking that that's where the trash goes, but she told me that sometimes there are fairies that visit the trash sites and take the good food to go home and eat. I've been feeding a lot of fairies recently.

One thing that I'm trying to master is the making of cookies. They're quick and easy, but I want those fairies to be well fed so I gotta keep trying!

My mother would get disturbed by the sound of pans clanging together and would run to the kitchen to see what mess I had made this time. She would then see that I was making cookies and would try and help me with the process, always giving me some good advice to follow.

Which brings me to the fifth part of my day. Waiting for my dad to get home so that we could eat dinner.

The day was coming to an end as the sun cast out it's golden rays leaving my village painted with the color of honey. I sat outside on a bench in front of my house waiting the trail ahead to see if my father was coming down yet. He was taking longer than normal which could've been because of his meeting so I didn't sweat it.

I had a cookie in my hand from the batch I had made earlier today. My mom was inside cleaning the mess that I had left behind because she knew I had a set schedule and if I didn't wait on dad then it would mess everything up.

Our house was just a little ways from the main part of the village. We liked being secluded from everything out there and we liked being surrounded by quiet. I didn't like the long commutes to school though or the long commutes my dad would take to work and back.

Eventually I started to see his silhouette come closer to the house causing a cheesy grin to wipe itself across my face. I jumped up from the bench and started to run down the trail towards him. I was no slow runner when it came to my dad coming home. Though as I got closer to him I could see that there were two other silhouettes close behind him.

That didn't stop my running though. Once I made it far enough, I saw my dad bend down ready for me to jump into his arms which is exactly what I did. His happy chuckle filled my ears as he lifted me upwards into his arms.

"There's my girl," He smiled that great smile of his at me. "Sorry I was late today, I wanted to bring some of my new friends home for dinner."

That's when my attention was brought over to the men by his side. These men were polar opposites of one another. One was made like a drop from the sun with his bright blonde hair and shining smile. The blue sky was stuck in his eyes that shimmered like the stars in the night sky. The other man beside him had dark brown hair with black eyes with a permanent scowl written along his face. Both were very young, though with the grumpy one it was harder to tell. They seemed just a little bit older than Michi.

They both made me nervous at the time. I gripped my dad's shirt collar and brought myself closer to him while my curious eyes avoided their gaze. Though they were forced back into the blue eyed gaze of one of the males.

He held his hand out to me with his smile never faltering, "Hi Yumi, I've heard so much about you on our way here. I'm Minato." I reluctantly took his hand in mine and gave it a little shake. It was my first handshake. His hand slipped away from mine so that his thumb could stick out and point to his partner. "This is Fugaku."

His partner, Fugaku, only hummed a response.

My dad pulled me closer to him while staring ahead at his home, "Now that introductions are out of the way, let's go help your mom with dinner."

The sun had gone down by this time. All our plates were scattered along the table with no food left along the glass. My dad was having a joyous time with his new friends seeing as how his laughter had filled the room every few minutes. My mom remained quiet throughout the dinner and I could sense that she was nervous about these new people in her home. I could tell by the way she kept fiddling with her napkin and the way she avoided everyone's gaze. My dad would occasionally hold her hand beneath the table as a way to help her feel calm.

Michi was currently boasting about his work as a young ninja. He would stretch the truth here and there saying that he's yet to be injured while Nari and I tried our best to conceal our laughter. Nari was more truthful about her recent life. She just passed her exam on becoming a ninja and would start her missions soon.

I hadn't talked about myself yet. I could tell the night was coming to an end soon and I didn't want to ruin the mood and tell them about my simple studies at the academy. It was all just stuff they probably already know. I felt a feeling of inferiority.

Yet I couldn't escape it when Minato had turned to me once again with that smile on his face, "What about you, Yumi? What's your life like right now?"

My shoulders gave a tiny shrug while my fingers fiddled around with my fork, "I'm still stuck at the academy doing basic training stuff."

Michi leaned closer to Minato with a smirk, "She's one of the lowest in her class."

I wanted to send some snarky remark back to my brother, but my dad's gaze told me otherwise. We had to look professional and mannerly in front of important guests such as them.

Minato only laughed at the comment causing my feeling of inferiority to grow and for a warm sensation across my cheeks to grow, "Well I'm sure that if Yumi tries hard enough she'll be able to achieve a lot more than that."

That embarrassment had washed away and was instead replaced by something else. Something of admiration. My mom gave me a slight nudge to remind me that I had to respond, "Ah, thank you!"

Now we enter the last part of my day. My mom and Nari took care of cleaning up as we said our goodbyes to the guests. I stood next to Michi as we watched our dad converse with Minato and Fugaku about "business things." Though there was a serious aura around the three of them, my dad was able to lighten the mood with his smile.

"Instead of traveling back tonight I highly suggest an inn that's a few miles down the road. Should be right next to where we first met," His voice was as cheery as ever, even when it was so late. "It's getting a bit hectic out there, but I do hope you decide to visit again!"

The casual goodbyes began as Minato and Fugaku made their way around thanking my parents for their hospitality and for their dinner. A more professional handshake was given between my dad and the two men while they started to leave our home for the night.

But before he could get his final foot out the door, Minato turned back to me with his final message for the night, "Keep working hard, Yumi, so you can bring your class rank up!"

I smiled brightly at him just like I had been practicing, "I will, thank you!"

The door had now shut and my family and I were alone once more for the night, or so we all thought. It was just like any other night. I made my way over to both my parents and gave them tight hugs and wishes for a good night so that I could get one in return. The most my siblings ever got of me at night was a simple good night, but I wish I could've given them more that night.

As I was starting to walk towards my bedroom, my mom's voice had stopped me, "Yumi," there was a slight plea in her voice and a sad glint in her eyes. Was she aware of the events that would take place tonight? She paused then smiled, "Never mind. Good night, dear."

I had gotten ready for bed just like every other night. Brush my teeth, slip into my pajamas, and get under the covers. I was ready for the daily cycle to start all over again just like every other day. My dad waking me up, fighting my siblings for the first usage of the bathroom, eating dinner, chores, waiting for my dad to come home, dinner, and bed. I had no idea that tonight that cycle would be served and it all started with a shrill scream that awoke me to my house being set ablaze.