Chapter 1 – Prologue
I was born with no problem, the weather was on the calm yet brittle. A child, pure and unknowing being abandoned. I watched the first woman I came to love wither away in front of me. I closed my eyes to the truth, in order to avoid the pain that came with it.
A women that I've seen since day one of my existence was who I held dear to me. The time showed no mercy for such a kind women in caring for me, the way she withered away without me knowing left me empty.
I had a father, the man who I believed to have loved my mother indulged himself after her passing. He was a mystery to me, secretive and cold, he licked the higher ranks to feel powerful in return. I thought it was a mean to merely provide for me, no. Darkness was only given.
At a tender age, I've seen bodies of men and women crave their own desires. Intoxicated; some led to smothering themselves with each other's scent for the night, and led to violence, and violence; led to death of others for mere amusement. And it was with these memory that I viewed the man known as my father as garbage. What it did to me was something I had no knowledge of. The fact was that I wanted to forget and see the man I had left as a guardian to heal me. The memory couldn't be shoved like everything else later on, only locked.
He was perhaps wealthy for him to purchase anything he desired for himself, and I was not what he wanted, I am but a child, abandoned when he saw the chance to do so and vanish but not entirely. My identity was unknown and soon after, others questioned my very existence. I was a child with only a name to know I existed; Sana.
~XXX~
The house that Sana lived for the only 3 years was neither lavish or wealthy by any means. The walls was dirty but it was of no matter to her, the equipment was never touched except by those of adults her father brought to make sure he stays alive at least. The job for caring for the girl was rather half assed and pointless, the foods were small, unfulfilling, and encased for each days meaning the carers felt no obligation to stay and care for her.
Perhaps one of the reason was of the way she smiled, it was said to be that of a monster.
The house was always lonely and she sought the air of the back of the house, the feeling of cold air breezing and touching the skin as her hair danced with the wind.
The grass of the forest were wild and not maintained, but even so, she could hear the sound of hissing coming closer. The small snake slithering on its belly, it looked to be harmless. There was a lack of knowledge in snakes to understand if it was dangerous or not, just merely watching the snake as it slithered.
It continued to flick its tongue every millisecond. It looked to be trying to find something, the girl tilted her head in curiosity and confusion in what the creature desired.
The people she heard from when noticing such creature hiss, others would reveal their expression of distastefulness, the conversation soon led to something on of a traitor that was not fully elaborated when they noticed the girl from her hiding place.
"…Maybe it's hungry?" She may have picked the snake without it's notice as it squirm and hissed in her hand. Although it was small compared to her, a bite from such a creature would frighten others. "You get hungry too…" almost instantly, the snake stopped its movement and stayed in her hand. It looked to have understood her…how interesting.
From what she's heard, they can eat anything, looking around, the girl noticed a patch of dirt builder together by small insects. It looked to be a reasonable source of food for the snake. Maybe it was happy with the service when she placed it near the small lump as it rushed in immediately and opened its mouth with its head going inside the small dirt.
Was it full now? It probably was as it slithered up her leg towards the girl's arm. It looked to be staring at her with its small eyes.
She had not noticed till now but the snake was in fact injured, it's cut was quite big for its size but it soon healed which mesmerised her. She leaned towards the snake as it reached forward and flicked its tongue on her nose. It soon left the arm and rushed back from where it came.
Watching it eat made her hungry, however it was one of those days where food was forgotten to be made by the carer and so there was nothing else to do.
Lying down on the grass, the girl closed her eyes and let the world take him.
~XXX~
"Why does he hate us?" The question was what I wondered one day during one peaceful day. The women froze for a moment before sighing.
"He doesn't hate us, dear." She said, a slight lift to her voice.
"The way he looks at us show otherwise." The girl had argued.
Her mother had placed the book down and took a deep breath. "I have different answers which could be reasons towards that hatred he harbours."
The girl looked at her with a raised brow, "Huh?" She managed to sound out, confused.
"Let me be more clear." The mother said quietly while looking around us. She nodded and turned mute, the silence was stationed for only a second which felt like hours.
"One of reasons may have been because of a condition which I soon found out." The words she spoke surprised her, 'conditions?' "He needed a family to gain something and I was just a tool to meet that requirement."
~XXX~
The next was of nothing special, these last few years in this house was like a hidden cage. Maybe she could have gone somewhere fun inside the village but she was told not to be a bother to whoever was taking care of her next. The only thing she would do was to look through the window and gaze at the other children run around. Looking back at the house, the girl shook her head with boredom, no one was going to be here again as usual.
"I guess it's fine to go to where they're going then…" she said to herself before following the sets of kids. The act of following from behind didn't gain any attention from the other children or adults that were scattered across the area doing their groceries and whatnot. She was in the clear if she walked naturally as she had done so several times now.
What the process of following the group led to was an area dedicated to children; a park. There was many kids playing in each directions, getting along with others didn't seem to be a good idea if they already separated into their own little gang.
The sand pit which she noticed looked to be vacant and interesting. Jogging towards the area, the girl let herself grasp the sand and watch as it seeps down through her fingers.
No one bothered her or noticed the girl very much and the feeling was also returned. This looked like a sad thing to do if you were by yourself but she felt it was peaceful. There was no one to admonish her which felt relieving, it felt as if she was free from anything that was revolved around keeping her caged in that empty home.
Without noticing, the blue sky had lost its colour, the twilight appearing soon after and the girl watched as parents or older relatives come to pick their young ones.
She didn't really focus on their loud whisper, it sounded horrible to say to kids maybe my age to stay away from one kid. The girl merely stared as they soon left while the she was the only one left in the park along with one other person.
He looked to be around the same age as me; tan, with bright blonde hair which was shining with the slight glare of the sun which remained. He was alone, was he waiting for someone or did they forget him on purpose.
She couldn't really tell. The boy turned around and walked away, slumped. Well she too would feel that the park was nowhere to stay when all your friends are gone.
Looking at the sky, she nodded before leaving to go home. Even while her stomach rumbled through hunger, the girl ignored it and fell asleep on her bed.
~XXX~
She didn't know why the bed felt more comfortable and free. The comfort was something non-existent and she wanted to stay where she was positioned. There was no reason to wake up either way unless it was for food which depended on if an adult hired by Sana's father was going to appear.
Nonetheless, the girl couldn't sleep forever with her body not taking the extra constant state of rest which be so wanted to stay as.
The glimpse she noticed with the opening of her eyes was of the area she had woken up to. This wasn't his home.
"So you have awaken, my dear." A woman in a white kimono that is clean and pure. Although the figure was hidden, she looked to have a well physique enough. Her pale white skin looked quite unnatural which only made her more noticing, her black hair, long and straight. She was anything but normal when looking at her but the girl wasn't scared.
Her staring didn't seem to bother the women even when she did not say a word to her. Her golden sharp eyes mere stared back at her with some sort of warmth towards the girl, why was it when she didn't know who she was to begin with.
"It's a nice weather today isn't it?" She asked calmly, the girl staring at her figure halted and was focused to the fan she used to cover her mouth.
She nodded. The weather was usually always warm in the village so what was asked was usually not weird.
The women smiled before walking closer to her now sitting position of the comfortable bed. She raised her hand and caressed the girl's head, it felt quite nice but quite annoying at the same time.
She perhaps noticed this as she retracted her arm back with raised brows. She must be amused with the slight glint in her eyes if anything else. "You helped a little friend of mine a few days back, she looked to be quite happy and gracious of what you did for her."
She titled her head, helped someone? The girl couldn't remember assisting anyone as no one really noticed her some much. "If you don't remember then it isn't of any concern as of now," she closed the fan and her smile was still placed on her face while looking at him. "I am to believe that you would be becoming a ninja like many others.
A ninja, a shinobi for the village as one of the many soldiers that would be like many others. Just another term for more honour in that term of work as an assassin.
"Hmm, compared to others, you look to be most capable in holding your expressions well," She revealed a grin which showered sharp pointed teeth. Unnatural. Inhuman. "Let's see how far that is…"
A sense of weight was pushed down upon her, causing the girl to sweat and fall to the floor. The woman who looked down on her held no sort of kindness that she once have shown. What was this feeling? Fear? Fear of what? Death? Yes, it may be so. The woman could kill her immediately but she didn't seem to be doing anything else. "Are you scared?"
She was. Her; a mere child was terrified in the force of pressure exerted and yet at the same time, she felt almost welcomed to this sort of pressure. The girl nodded her head, slowly.
"…Heh, at least you are very honest. But I know you will overcome such simple matter of force in due time." The pressure fades away. The girl let out a breath and relaxed, she felt frightened of the existence before her but did not shy away from the danger. "The test is over, I'm sorry for scaring you…this was to show you what you will be dealing with when becoming a shinobi."
Sana slowly nodded her head, what the monster in human skin said was undeniable and she forced herself to relax in front of the women but watch her warily, 'Maybe this too was a test.'
The woman gets to her knees, touching the rocky ground, and wipes the girl's face gently with her sleeves. "You have potential indeed, you're are nothing special in terms of being a genius, but it is because of such matter that it makes you special nevertheless," Sana already knew she had nothing special inside of her, being told so didn't cause the girl any pain when she knew herself already too well.
"How about I help you become a shinobi?" Her question was sudden. "If you want to no longer be an outsider, you must first gain strength to bring attention." It was tempting, but dangerous at the same time. "Hard-work will sometimes never be noticed, but that also why I foresee a future of you being acknowledged." Sana was getting tempted, the woman continued to smile as if already knowing the answer.
Denying her aid in surviving was ridiculous, whether she was really human or not. Firmly looking at the woman's golden slit eyes, she nodded her she last saw was the women open her mouth and incredible pain being felt besides her neck, all went dark soon after.
~XXX~
She taught the girl many things during her stay there, and she decided to call her Sensei.
"This world is cruel and unforgiving, my dear, you will have to be merciless to your enemy and careful amongst your allies at the same time, backstabbing is more common than you think."
Sensei pulled a piece of small paper from under her sleeve and handed it to her. "This will help us both in teaching you what can be taught. It is from a specifically grown tree, fed with chakra and other chakra based substance. When you flow your energy which is your chakra through this paper, it will respond and react in certain ways. This is one of the methods in how a shinobi finds a way to master and build their strength from."
That piece of information was intriguing and amazing at the same time, a small item which could help build the foundation of his strength sounded farfetched but, who was she to simply voice his opinion in being taught. "I just have to concentrate?" The girl asked.
"Yes. Just concentrate."
The feeling inside was felt moving from inside her body as it flowed towards the direction from where she told it to go. Hearing a strange sound from the chakra paper, the girl opened her eyes to see the paper having been wrinkled between her fingers.
"How interesting," Sensei said with a smile. "You have an affinity towards Lightning. That is a very exceptional start to your progress. Now then, let us go through a training course I have made beforehand." The girl followed her as towards the obstacle course and stared with amazement at the stuff that was seen. "I will remind you that many Shinobi learn to utilize more affinity."
"I can learn other elements then?"
"Yes, in time it will show itself to you. Quite amazing right?" The girl nodded gaining a slight chuckle from the women. "I believe we can start whenever you're ready, I will start ahead and you will follow along and try to match my pace. This is to merely have a brief review in what I can help you train in."
"Yes Sensei." The women nodded with a smile before she started to jog, the girl soon followed behind her while watching the way she moved with such accuracy to the obstacles that hinder her from proceeding forward. The girl didn't know for how long it went on till the women said we were done. Did she fail? No. The women didn't seem to be dissatisfied with the results from what the girl could see.
"You rely more on instinct more than planning your next move, while both has its good or bad sides, this is fixed with your flexible reflex which are quite exceptional for your age. That also correlates to your speed and balance. Although, the strength you currently have may need to be improved if you are in a situation for utilising close combat nevertheless," the woman smiled at her before patting her head, "You did well with this endurance training, the course was beyond that for a beginner such as yourself but you took it with stride, congratulations."
"Being flexible in terms of speed has a majority of advantages to you, it will allow you do extra things in the heat of battle, and thinking about such things is not required due rot you more in-depth to instinct than thinking on the spot. Such as…" The women did a split so clean and precise that anyone else who saw would be jealous. "…doing this is more difficult than you believe, you could be a natural in terms of this."
It was nice feeling of getting recognition for having potential. "Thank you for the lesson, Sensei."
"No problem at all, my dear."
~XXX~
There was no time for me to tell for how long I was held in this place. I probably didn't even want to leave in the first place, food and water was provided to me when needed and the training begins again once I wake up from my rest.
There was an option of a day off for training but I felt it as another test of saying to give up reaching the best I could be by the woman.
I call her a woman even she was something else entirely. A snake that lived in Ryūchi Cave along with others of the same kind which was kept hidden from, perhaps for my own good or to maybe not to go further in to prevent any hinder to my progress.
The body was malnourished and therefore, muscles and layers of meat were not visible which was soon fixed with the amount given to me when eating. Throwing up was an occasion during those time more than when training in order to show a different physique.
I've wondered how long I've stayed in the cave. My question was never answered but with only a smile and to not worry. Looking at myself, I probably didn't stay here long enough to be of worry to the village.
Although, worry would appear to the village if a child from a clan was to disappear. That is how the world is revolved around. The quality over the quantity.
I didn't know what became of me during the training day in and day out, the mist that covered the area constantly showed no brightness or darkness to indicated if it was day or night to begin with.
I could only conclude with the matter of when I felt tired enough to sleep.