Hello everyone! It's been a long time! I'm really sorry it took me this long to update... For those who are still reading this and haven't fully given up on me, thank you very much! This chapter here will shed some light on Kiu's origins, so I hope you guys like it :)


Chapter 53: The Kyushi Clan

Nighttime… The Kazekage's Mansion seems so huge and eerily quiet when no one's in it. Then again, it's kind of lucky for me that Gaara and the others are out on a mission right now. This way I won't have to lie to them about where I'm going.

Tonight is the night that I will uncover the secrets of my origins. At least I hope I will…

When I get to the library, it looks practically deserted. No guards or anything. Of course, they really need to guard the area that's accessible to the general public. It's the archive that's going to be securely guarded. I just need to get into that bathroom without alarming any of the shinobi inside. Once I'm inside, I'll be able to infiltrate the archive through the floorboards by making my body disintegrate into the gold sand.

I get to the library entrance. I don't sense anyone on the other side. Still, I should be careful and check inside before going in. I materialize my third eye and make it infiltrate the library through the door. Looking around, there's no one on the first floor. Perfect. It'll make things easier for me. I silently open the door and with featherlike steps move as fast as possible to the bathroom. I go into the stall that I was in earlier today.

Alright, let's follow the plan. I'll first scout the archive above me with my third eye just to be sure that no one is there.

I look around with my third eye and, as I suspected, no one is in the archive. Time to act. I go through the floor boards using my gold sand. I then materialize inside the archive. It's so dusty in here… Probably because not many people have access to the archive.

I start cloning myself. As many clones as I can. The more there are, the faster this process will go. I mentally divide the archive into sections for my clones to focus and look around efficiently. I then start looking through the scrolls, making sure to put it back exactly how it was after looking through it.

We all look around for what seems an eternity. I can't give up though. This has become my purpose. I will find out about who I really am.

After looking around for some time, one of my clones disappeared. Suddenly, I felt a rush of information flood my mind. That's… exactly what I was looking for! It's very different from what I expected… I need to go back to the mansion to sort everything out. I undo my clones, and all of the knowledge they gathered also comes to me. It's all useless information though. I got what I needed, no point in lingering here any longer.

When I get back to the mansion, i grab a scroll and start writing down the relevant information I had.

There was a nomad clan, the Kyushi clan. Not much was known about them apart from their very distinct ability to absorb jutsu and knowledge from dead bodies. They were feared because of their abilities. Mysterious deaths and disappearances always occurred in whatever region they went. It was suspected that they were behind such acts to absorb the abilities from their victims. The Third Kazekage dedicated a lot of time researching the clan and taking the necessary precautions to protect Sunagakure from them. He had come up with a plan to exterminate them in case of emergency. After observing them thoroughly, he discovered that they carried out very specific rituals to dying clan members. The ritual was basically a sealing process that locked in all the jutsu that the dying had absorbed throughout their life. If ever someone died without having the ritual performed, usually when they died suddenly and unexpectedly, it would incapacitate every other Kyushi member in the vicinity for around six hours. This was the maximum amount of time they had to be able to absorb jutsu from a dead body. However, even though they were incapacitated when a clan member died, they were not actually able to absorb any of the jutsu the member had absorbed throughout his life. It happened very rarely, since they took every precaution possible to have regular checkups and people who worked solely to detect if anyone was in any fatal situation. The Third Kazekage's plan consisted of attacking whenever an accidental or sudden death happened, while most of the clan was incapacitated. He, however, he didn't go through with his plan, since he was assassinated before the Kyushi clan caused any problems. After him, the Fourth Kazekage, Gaara's father, started to immediately carry out the plan. There were no actual evidence of the Kyushi clan acting in any hostile way. It just seemed that the Kazekage wanted to rid the village of any potential dangers. He found an opportunity in an unlikely friendship that was forming between one of the children of the Kyushi clan, and one of the children of Sunagakure.

As soon as I saw the names of the two children, my heart nearly stopped. Mari and Kiu… It was me and Mari. Putting aside my personal feelings, I continued to take notes. I'll deal with what I'm feeling later when I'm in a safer place.

There were a lot of records of both of us. The Fourth Kazekage had done a background check and study on both of us. My father was the chieftain of the clan. He was named Juro. He was renown as one of the strongest people in the world. My mother's name was Azumi. There isn't much information about her. Just that she was well-respected the tribe. The Fourth Kazekage's plan was to take advantage of the trusting nature of the two children. He had young Mari give young me a toy that was rigged to release highly poisonous gas when the seal on it is broken. The seal was temporary, meaning it would wear off on its own after a certain amount of time. That night, I naively accepted the gift and put it in her room. That night, the gas dispersed in the chieftain's home, killing him and his wife. I, however, survived somehow. This allowed an opening for a team of Sunagakure shinobi to slaughter the incapacitated clan. They left me as the only survivor and brought me to the Kazekage. He decided to erase my memory of what happened and instructed Mari's family to keep a close eye on me. He wanted to use me as one of his shinobi because of my highly valuable Kekkei Genkai.

If he sealed my memories away, then all I need to do is undo the seal and I'd remember everything… But first, I need to get out of here. I put everything back the way it was and escape through the floorboards. I then run as fast as I can back home. As soon as I get behind closed doors, my legs give out and tears start flowing down my cheeks and I sob openly. I get such an overwhelming feeling of sadness wash over me. They murdered my family. They slaughtered them. And then the Kazekage kept me alive just so that he could use me in his arsenal. On top of that, I am partly responsible for the death of my clan. But… how did I survive? Why did I survive? I feel like I don't deserve to be the only one who didn't get killed.

The seal… I need to unseal my memories. There must me a seal somewhere on my body that I've never seen. But where would that… My eyes open wide. Under my hair! I try to part my thick hair around to see if I can spot anything. I can't see very well what kind of seal it is like this… I guess I have no other choice but to shave it all off.

Without any hesitation, I take my kunai and start cutting my hair off as closely as possible to my scalp. I'm starting to recognize the seal. To finish the job, I take a razor and completely remove all my hair, leaving me bald. I can clearly see it now. I know exactly how to undo it, too.

I quickly do the hand signs needed to break the seal and put my palm on it. It then immediately starts fading away. A sharp pain courses through my head and I fall to the ground in pain. Everything soon fades to black…


I hope it was enjoyable, even after so long, and I'll try my best not to be absent for so long. Thank you for reading, you guys are the best.