6.11.22.

Hello, it's been a while, for anyone who is familiar with me. Yet again, I find myself rewriting this story. I did finish this story, so all I have to do is edit/upload chapters :) I promise, this will be the last time I rewrite this story lol. I want to thank all the people who reviewed the first rewrite and gave me a lot of great pointers/constructive criticism. I have recently found the motivation to write after a long time, and I decided that I should fix up this story since I never posted the rest of the rewritten chapters anyway. I've decided that I will probably also delete 'Walk the Path Stained with Light' and 'Clarity', and I am working on the sequel for this story too. I literally laughed when I went back to read my old stories. Totally cringe. Hopefully this is better lol.

The plan is to post one or two chapters every two or three days. Please let me know what you think.

Noise. She remembered there was a lot of noise. Thumping and banging, scraping against the walls, what sounded like shattering glass, screams. It startled her awake, but she couldn't open her eyes, hard as she tried. She wrestled with the invisible monsters holding her down, keeping her from running to see what was happening.

Her family. It was her family making all that noise. What were they doing? Oh, but they were shouting curses, screaming each other's names in fits of terror. Something exploded, shaking the walls of her bedroom. They were in trouble, she realized. She strained against her sleep, but something was wrong. Her senses were alive, working better than they ever had, thanks to Aiko. She could hear everything—fragile objects breaking as they were smashed, weapons embedding themselves into the fine wooden walls, furniture being overturned, the desperate cries of the injured. She could smell smoke—the burning of fire, and the distant scent of iron…blood. But her body refused to move, like she was paralyzed from head to toe. Why couldn't she get up? Why couldn't she open her eyes? Her family: her father, mother, brother, and sister, were all fighting their own demons, too.

Only, these demons were very, very real. And they were destroying her family, her home.

She heard the door slide open slowly, felt the light of the moon upon her eyelids for only a moment before the door was shut again. Quietly, someone creeped into her room, and she wondered if she was in trouble, like the rest of her family. Unlike them, she couldn't defend herself. She was small, weak. Scared. Her siblings were never like her. They were strong and proud shinobi, even when they were her age. Her parents weren't ninjas, but they were still brave. But she couldn't imagine anyone who would want to hurt them. They'd done nothing but help the village since before she was born.

She tensed, readying herself for the darkness that was to come—true nothingness. Would the enemy slice her throat? Strangle her? Stab her in the heart? Or perhaps they would simply smother her with her own pillow. Oh, the possibilities were endless. She felt a tear slide down her face, and though her body was still, she imagined she was shaking all over. Fear, she thought. And even in her head her voice was trembling. What had happened to her family? She knew that if they were able, they would have come to her rescue and stopped this bad person from hurting her. Where were they? Surely, they weren't…

"Goodbye, my sweet Kaiya," she heard someone whisper. A woman's voice, so soft she almost mistook it for a breeze that might have blown through her small, open window in the corner of the room. She stilled, listening, holding her breath. "One day, you will understand. I hope you can forgive me. I will be waiting for you, however long it takes. Come find me when you are ready."

Something strange happened: Kaiya felt a warm, wet kiss on her forehead, and then the voice fell silent, and the unknown presence in the room disappeared completely. After a few minutes—she didn't know how long it had been—she began to feel warmth in her fingers, as the blood flow returned slowly. Little by little, she could move her hands, then her arms, and then her neck. Finally, her eyelids opened, and she glanced around her small room lit up by the full moon outside as she slowly changed to a sitting position, feeling like she had just been revived after rigor mortis set in. The last part of her body to move was her legs.

As soon as her bare feet hit the wooden floor, she dashed unsteadily toward her door, which led outside to the veranda. Throwing it open, the force so sudden and harsh the door broke off its hinges, she ran toward where she had heard all the noise earlier, as if in a dream. It was completely silent now. Too silent. Debris of splintered wood and concrete, along with roof shingles and drywall littered the ground, and she leaped over them without worry, focused only on one thing.

Her family. Something was wrong. Her ears strained as she attempted to listen to anything—her mother's soft voice as she hummed in the garden; her father's deliberate footsteps as he patrolled the compound late at night; the muffled laughter of her siblings as they wrestled in the courtyard after she'd already been sent to bed. These were the comforting sounds she had grown to know and love, that she had taken for granted all this time. But now, the property was eerily quiet. Not even the crickets chirped.

What happened?

Kaiya's mind was racing, sweat dripping down her brow. She was the kind of child who always thought positive, even when things weren't right. She was so optimistic that it made the rest of her family sick. She did all she could not to think the worst of things, but this time it was personal.

Danger. She smelled danger, mixed in with the rust perforating her nostrils, making her stomach churn. Goosebumps covered her arms and neck, her spine stiff. Danger.

There were no lights on in the main compound, and she could see there was a hole blasted through the wall, responsible for all the garbage laying about the yard. Something rustled in a nearby rose bush in the garden, just in front of the family room, where her parents drew plans throughout the night, hardly ever sleeping, and her siblings played chess until their mother and father scolded them for staying up too late and they stubbornly retired to their rooms, refusing to admit just how tired they were.

She was never allowed to stay up late or join them in the family room after sundown. She was always sent to bed early. She wondered if they were aware she laid awake every night in her bed, listening to them enjoy each other's company. She wondered if they knew how much it hurt her to be alone, if they cared.

She doubled over, her hands on her knees, as she tried to catch her breath. She was a fast runner, and her adrenaline was working overtime as she searched for her parents and siblings, but fear crippled her, choked her to the point she couldn't breathe properly. Her muscles ached from the strange paralysis she'd experienced earlier, like every part of her body had been in a long, groggy sleep except her mind. She forced her limbs to comply with her demands. Move!

"M-mom, D-dad, are you there?" she called shakily, turning toward the rosebush. "Ren, Shohei…? This joke isn't funny anymore. Come out, please." Silence.

They had no pets, and even if the occasional fox or rabbit wandered near their compound, she would be able to hear them scuttering across the grass. Besides, small animals didn't have large, human-shaped silhouettes, and they didn't wear masks…

Ninjas.

Of course, she thought, the fear ripping at her heart now. It was beating fast now, too fast to keep up with. Her vision blurred; she felt dizzy, nauseous. Then, the silhouette disappeared in a flash of black, and she was alone again.

If shinobi were on her property, and if she heard all that noise earlier, those screams…

The five-year-old gulped, taking one unsteady step forward, holding her breath. She could feel her pulse in her throat as she tiptoed past the tall rose bushes and to the door leading to the family room, facing the front of the property. On either side of the front door was a large double-latched window; both were broken. She bit her tongue to keep from crying out as shards of glass sunk deep into the soles of her bare feet. She cursed under her breath and limped past the debris, neglecting to notice the blood staining the porch and the door, which had been blown clean off, lying in tatters around the front entrance.

Taking a deep breath, unsure of what she'd find, the child gasped when a small but strong hand reached behind her and covered her mouth and nose and eyes. She couldn't see who had grabbed her; she couldn't breathe, couldn't scream. Then, everything went black.

"—aya." Black, darkness, nothingness. She was floating in an abysmal void. At first it was confusing, frightening. But then, it was peaceful. Kaiya relaxed and started drifting to the bottom of an endless sea. She could hear voices, but they were distant, irrelevant. She started to close her eyes, content in drowning in this murky—

"KAIYA KIMURA!"

Her eyes opened with a start, and she sucked in a breath, straightening up. She blinked, trying to remember where she was. Last she saw, she was drowning…

She could feel sweat droplets on her neck, her hair standing on end. She could feel the bags under her eyes, like they were weighing down on her face. She looked down, where her teacher was standing, arms crossed, staring up at her angrily.

"Am I boring you?" Iruka asked irritably, lifting his eyebrow, indicating this was not a rhetorical question; he expected an answer. Kaiya sighed, resisting the urge to roll her eyes, knowing it would only earn her more backlash. She closed them to gain her composure, opening them again ten seconds later.

"Of course not, Sensei," she replied innocently, crossing her fingers on top of her desk. She heard some of her classmates snicker behind her, but she ignored them. They'd love nothing more than to watch her get escorted out of class again. She bit her tongue to keep from saying anything she wouldn't regret but that would get her in trouble. "Your lectures are the highlight of my day." She grinned mockingly, and Iruka's frown deepened.

He weighed the options of escorting her out of class or scolding her more thoroughly. But then he sighed in resignation, knowing it wasn't worth his time, and he no longer had the patience to try and correct her. It was no use with her; she'd see it as a game. She loved the attention, and as much as it irked Iruka to let her get away with it, it was much easier to just let it go, rather than drag out a losing battle. She was clever in a way that she could twist one in all the wrong places and get what she wanted out of you. Too bad she only used it to bait him into getting her out of class, which was her goal. She was almost as bad as Naruto, the class clown.

A devil child, she is, the teacher thought, shaking his head. But if he could hold on just a little longer, he could be rid of her for good. Clearing his throat, he continued where he left off before Kaiya's snoring interrupted him.

"As I was saying, class," he said, standing straight and resuming his teacher-like pose, "as you know, graduation is coming up soon." He would get rid of all these annoying children, more specifically Kaiya and Naruto. He couldn't wait. "Start preparing early. The test could be anything you've learned from your first year in the Academy, so don't think you can slack off when you study."

Kaiya frowned. Study? He's kidding, right? She liked reading, honestly—but only if she chose to read that particular subject, not if she was being told by an adult to do it. Especially if it was Iruka. She hated the Academy and everyone in it—Iruka included. It was full of stupid, pathetic, self-entitled brats who wouldn't last a day out in the real world. For hours they would sit in a classroom and listen to Iruka drone on and on about things that didn't seem to matter to her. They'd perform lame jutsu and the girls would fight over Sasuke instead of pay attention anyway; and the boys were all smelly and dumb and lazy (especially Shikamaru).

As for the graduation test, well…she knew she would pass. In fact, she was sure most everyone in their class would. Knowing Iruka, the test wouldn't be difficult at all, because he wanted them all out of his class as soon as possible. The only one that would have an issue would be Naruto Uzumaki. The fool couldn't even perform a simple clone jutsu. Kaiya sniggered, biting her lip. It would be just his luck if that's what the test is, she thought, blowing air through her nostrils.

"Would you like to share your joke with the class, Kaiya?" It was impossible for Iruka's voice to be any more annoyed. "You seem to be enjoying yourself." Her mouth clamped shut as she covered her mouth promptly, her eyes drifting to her blond classmate, sitting on the row directly beneath her, on her right.

She had half a mind to declare her thoughts, but then she thought of the repercussions, and the chores she'd be made to do when she made it home. She wasn't quite that brave—not today. Clearing her throat, Kaiya shook her head, a nervous smile appearing across her face.

"N-no, Iruka-sensei. I'm not enjoying myself at all. Please, carry on." Her eyes averted to her section of the desks. Shikamaru, who was sitting on the same row as Naruto, two seats away from him, snickered, his mouth covered by his hands and his head tilted toward Choji. Kaiya blushed in embarrassment, glaring at him with a snarl. She threw a pencil down at him, hitting him directly in the forehead as he turned around to say something to her, no doubt a snarky remark. He froze, his laughter dying in his throat, and he frowned at her, sticking his tongue out as he turned back around, rubbing his temple promptly. She smirked smugly, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair.

Iruka groaned, shaking his head as went on with his speech, interrupted yet again. At that point, Kaiya tuned him out completely, taking to studying the classroom instead. She remembered her first day at the Academy, seven years ago, the first time she'd stepped into this room. They had a different teacher then. In fact, a lot of things were different at that time. Kaiya's eyes narrowed.

She recalled her parents escorting her to the giant red building, which honestly was just one big eyesore, even to a five-year-old. They walked on either side of her, smiling and waving to everyone who passed by. Kaiya remembered feeling so elated: she was excited to be joining the Academy, and she was proud to have parents who were so respected in the village, even though they weren't shinobi.

Her father and mother neglected to stand anywhere near her, keeping two yard's distance between themselves and her, like she had some sort of virus that might infect them. She didn't notice it back then, of course, but thinking back on it, she remembered how aloof they were—all of them, her siblings included. Their smiles were feigned, stretched taut across their lips, and they only made the gesture out in public. You would think a village of shinobi would notice the slight twitch of their eyebrows and how difficult it was to keep their faces so cheery all the time.

They arrived at the Academy, standing with the other parents and children who were waiting for the induction ceremony to begin. Her parents mingled with the other adults, some of them other parents, others the teachers their older children had years earlier. After the ceremony, they waved to her halfheartedly and returned to their busy lives blueprinting the village.

Class was only a few moments from beginning. The small white clock in the front of the room ticked by slowly, the second hand mocking her as it seemed to speed up with each thump her heart made against her ribcage. Rather than sit at the single available seat on the bottom row, she chose to make the long walk all the way up to the third section, second row from the top; that way, she could see the entirety of the room and not have to worry about the others staring at her back. She took a nervous breath and exhaled slowly, hoping the other students wouldn't notice the shimmers traveling through her shoulders as she passed by them.

She couldn't help but spend that entire first day thinking about her family, wondering if her siblings had gone through the same mental torture she had. (Ha! Of course they didn't. They were perfect and popular and strong). She figured her parents were lucky for never having to experience the Academy at all.

Ayumu and Satomi were both talented and successful architects in Konoha. Despite not having a shinobi heritage, her older brother Shohei was a fifteen-year-old Jonin, and her older sister Ren was a twelve-year-old Chunin. Kaiya's family was well-known and well-liked, and she was happy to be walking in their shadows.

That was, until the truth was discovered.

Just thinking about it made Kaiya sick, and her musings were cut short. "Kaiya, did you hear a word I just said?" Iruka was glaring at her yet again, exasperated. She blinked several times, returning to reality once more.

"Uh…of course, Sensei!" she lied, her voice dripping with fake enthusiasm, as it often did when she found herself in these situations. Rubbing the back of her head, she chuckled nervously. "Every word." Iruka's eyebrow twitched. If he had to get onto her one more time that day, he might just have a heart attack.

"Oh? So, you won't mind repeating it all to the class, then?" he said. Kaiya paled, and this time the entire class burst into laughter. Even Sasuke snickered, his eyes closed.

"…" Stupid Sasuke. What I wouldn't give to wipe that smirk off his face.

"Right." Sighing, Iruka shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. This girl is hopeless. Maybe it's time for me to retire… "See me after class, Ms. Kimura." Kaiya groaned in protest, slumping in her seat. She stared at the ceiling blankly as she rested her neck against the back of the stiff chair, her expression stoic. It's not like this was anything new. In fact, it had been increasingly more difficult to control her antics lately. She'd been daydreaming a lot about the past, although she wasn't really sure why.

"Yeah, fine," she muttered, crossing her arms. "Not like I haven't heard that before." The instructor gave her one last pointed look before he finished up his lesson for the day. It wasn't worth the trouble of addressing her disrespect for the third time in under twenty minutes. If he could just get through to graduation…

When class was dismissed, Kaiya didn't bother moving from her seat. Instead, she propped her feet up on the desk and leaned back, resting her hands behind her head casually. Iruka told her to wait for him there while he filed a report on her 'disruptive behavior,' which he'd been doing constantly since he took over Keiko's classroom five years ago. Her file had to be as thick as his arm by now.

Kaiya glanced down at Sasuke, who had made his way to the floor and was trying to push past Sakura and Ino, who were arguing over who would walk home with him—just a typical day, Kaiya thought, rolling her eyes. She didn't understand what girls found so appealing about Sasuke Uchiha. He was moody and quiet and didn't show interest in anything or anyone. And he thought he was better than everyone else, which pissed Kaiya off to no end. A cactus was more approachable than him.

Sasuke frowned, his annoyance oblivious to the two lovesick maniacs, but palpable to Kaiya. She laughed, catching their attention. All three of them looked up with irritable expressions.

"And what are you laughing at, Beef Brains?" Ino barked, waving a fist in the air. Steam curled out of her nostrils as she exhaled indignantly, her cheeks rosy from anger. She currently had her other arm wrapped around Sasuke's shoulders. Even with Kaiya occupying her attention, she was tugging him towards her, fighting against Sakura, who was doing the same with his arm. Kaiya sighed, rolling her eyes again, this time so that the others could see. She frowned at the insulting nickname.

Don't let them get to you, Kaiya, she told herself repeatedly, chewing her cheek. Don't let them get to you.

All of Sasuke's admirers called Kaiya 'Beef Brains' because she had more muscle than all the other females in their class. She was ambitious when it came to physical training, so she worked out a lot more than most of her classmates, especially the girls. Ami started the nickname when they were seven, and Ino and Sakura kept it alive all these years. She had even been questioned a few times if she was really a boy pretending to be a girl. She answered them by punching whoever asked in the face, asking if a boy would do that. Of course, it got her into trouble, but it was well worth it to see those girls cry.

Kaiya stared at the heated blonde for a few more seconds before replying, "Hmm? Oh, I was just laughing at poor Sasuke here, who has to put up with you guys every day," she answered, shrugging. "I don't know where he finds the patience. I mean, I would've killed you guys by now, if I were him." Sakura growled, pointing up at the brunette, one hand firmly gripping Sasuke's sleeve.

"OH YEAH, BEEF BRAINS?" she screeched, her teeth suddenly turning to fangs. "Just go ahead and try it!" Cha! You stupid bitch!

Kaiya's eyes narrowed, but she didn't move a muscle, tempted as she was to take her up on the offer. Sakura heaved, her [flat] chest moving up and down dramatically as she took in deep breaths and let them out slowly.

Kaiya closed her eyes and counted to ten, then opened them again. "Maybe some other time," she decided, closing her eyes once more and leaning back further in her chair. She took a deep breath. "I'd rather not waste precious seconds of my life disposing of the two of you. Even taking on Naruto would be more of a challenge." The two girls, clearly insulted, lunged at Kaiya, climbing up the stairs to the desk where she sat. Forgetting all about Sasuke for the moment, they tackled her chair, throwing punches and hurling insults, only to find a few seconds later that she wasn't in her seat. Sasuke was also gone. They paused in confusion.

"W-what the…?" A shadow appeared behind them, and they stiffened.

"Told you: a waste of time." They turned around to see Kaiya standing over them on the desk, arms crossed. Her expression was frigid, frozen like a dark, icy statue. Chills ran down the girls' spines, as if they could feel the cold air radiating around her figure. They shivered.

"You're a monster," Ino muttered, hugging her chest. She looked away, her shoulders sagging. Sakura nodded, clenching her jaw to keep her teeth from chattering.

"How the hell are you so fast?"

Kaiya almost smirked. "I train. You should try it sometime," she answered simply. I'm not going to be a victim…not again. The dream she'd had earlier in class came back to her, and she tensed. Ino huffed, standing to her feet slowly; Sakura followed.

"Tch. I bet you train so hard so you can betray the village, just like your—" Before she could finish her accusation, Kaiya's eyebrows furrowed and her face hardened. She grabbed Ino's collar before she could move and pulled her up to her face so fast, she got whiplash as she gasped. Both girls were stunned at the speed and ferocity in which Kaiya moved. Her fists clenched the purple fabric of Ino's shirt tightly, shaking with anger. Her murky eyes were so cruel and empty of any empathy that Ino could almost see her death in the reflection of Kaiya's dilated pupils. With sweat trickling down her brow, her eyes wide, she gulped, her voice caught in her throat. Her heart beat relentlessly against her chest.

"Just like my what, Ino?" Kaiya's jaw was clenched just as tightly as her fists. She was trembling, the rational part of her brain trying to keep her from smashing her classmate through a wall. As if reading her mind, Sakura covered her head and cowered on the floor. She prayed Kaiya would have mercy on her.

"I-I-I'm sorry, Kaiya! I wasn't thinking, but I-I didn't mean it, I s-swear!" Ino cried, squeezing her eyes shut and turning her head away, as if that would help her case. Kaiya growled, rearing her free arm back as she prepared to punch her in the face.

"I thought I made it clear not to speak of them ever," she snapped, her voice tight and short like a cord stretched taut. "I told you the next time someone did, I was going to make them regret it, didn't I?"

Ino could feel the tension building up like a rubber band being pulled back as far as it could go, to smack someone between the eyes painfully. She held her breath as she waited to feel the agonizing pain that would no doubt leave a lasting mark for at least a month. Kaiya could hit just as hard as some of the boys in their class. She was also the fastest, which meant Ino had no chance of escape. Her short life seemed to flash before her eyes, and the biggest regret she had at that moment was not being able to kiss Sasuke before she died.

Damn you, Kaiya Kimura.