iii.

chapter three - a lost cause

Time went by more slowly when Sasori became a genin. I barely saw him as it was, so now that he was a full time ninja our moments with each other lessened even more. Usually he was training with his sensei, off on a mission, or studying in his room at home.

A few months into this routine, I woke Sasori up before his usual time— intent on getting some attention.

"Saso-nii." I hovered over his dozing form, a knee on either side of his body with my hands on his chest to keep myself balanced.

"Hn…" The redhead grunted tiredly. He was awake and aware of my presence, but obviously didn't feel the need to do anything about it. Sighing, I placed my full weight on him and rested my head on his chest. A groan left him, making me smirk. "What is it, Kyo?"

"Saso-nii, p'ease spen' the day with me!" I whined, nuzzling his chest and probably making my hair become even more messy than it originally was (fact of the day: Kyojin doesn't believe in brushes).

Sasori sighed, lazily brushing a hand through my wavy brown tresses (frowning whenever his fingers got caught on a knot). "Sorry, Kyojin, but you know I have training with Ichirou-sensei today."

I whined obnoxiously into his chest, "That's what you say every time!" Lifting my head up to meet Sasori's eyes, I pouted. "It's my turn now!"

My brother looked stuck between becoming stern or becoming amused. Instead, he sighed again

but more loudly and rubbed at his eyes tiredly. "No, Kyo. I'm training with Ichirou-sensei no matter what…" At this I frowned pitifully, but Sasori continued, "...but, maybe you can come with me. Sensei has been wanting to meet you anyway."

Gasping at the reveal, my brown eyes widened in delight as I hugged Sasori. "Yay! Thank you, nii-sama! I love you so so much~!"

Laughing, Sasori lazily returned my hug, already drifting back to sleep now that the problem had been resolved. "I love you too, Kyo."

。。。

We arrived at the sand-covered training grounds that Sasori and his sensei frequented around nine in the morning. Chiyo had seen us off, but not before shoving two breakfast bentos into our hands.

"Sasori-kun, early as always, I see…" Ichirou chirped in greeting. He was lying on a rock in the middle of the training ground, his eyes closed as he basked in the sunlight. No wonder his skin was so darkly tanned. "Oh, and is that another person I sense?" The man sat up and tilted his head to the side, allowing his sandy-blond hair to fall across part of his face.

Oddly enough, his eyes remained closed. Apparently it was a normal enough occurrence however, as Sasori paid it no mind and merely grunted in reply before introducing me. "Ichirou-sensei, this is my little brother: Kyojin."

Ichirou gasped loudly, a large smile on his face as he quickly slipped off of the rock. Soon he was in front of us— pinching my cheeks and ruffling Sasori's hair at the same time. "Ah, it's so nice to finally meet you, Kyo-chan! Sasori-kun has told me so much about you~ My name is Ichirou!"

"Un!" I grinned in reply once the man released my cheeks, "Ichi-sensei!"

"So cute!" He practically cried, clasping his hands together. The blond was spinning on the balls of his feet, and all I could do was watch in...disbelief? Surprise? I honestly couldn't find a word to describe how I was feeling, but I knew that beside me, Sasori looked less than impressed. Ichirou sighed contently, finally coming to a stop. "Well, let's get straight to training! Kyo-chan, you can warm-up with Sasori-kun if you like, but when the real training starts, please go and wait in the shade, neh?"

I nodded, chirping my affirmation as I followed my brother's lead. Ichirou wandered back over to the rock he was lying on previously, his eyes now open for the world to see. They were a dark brown, and glossy. Letting my childish side pull through, I tugged on Sasori's sleeve before he could start to stretch. "Ano...Nii-sama, is Ichi-sensei blind?" Could I be anymore subtle?

Sasori paused in his movements, turning his head a bit to meet my eyes. I didn't miss the way he glanced at Ichirou, however. "Hm? Yes, he is, but—" A stern look took over his face then, reminding me just how powerful and infamous he was in a different timeline. "Don't underestimate him. Ichirou-sensei is a very skilled shinobi, and despite his disability, he's still very powerful." This felt like a lecture instead of a verbal beating, so I didn't allow myself to feel too offended by Sasori's tone.

Don't underestimate anyone. I think that's what he was trying to get across— which is kind of ironic, considering how his death was a result of him underestimating his opponents… That thought alone made my throat run dry. Sasori dying...it just wasn't an option.

Sasori and I continued stretching; me copying everything he did. In my past life, I was sure to work out everyday in order to keep myself in shape… The fact that I was able to run fast and defend myself was what kept me alive for so long. It was that one moment of carelessness that ruined me, however.

"You two cuties finished?" Ichirou walked over to us, his hands clasped behind his back and that cheery smile still on his face.

I stretched my arms out one last time while Sasori nodded, standing up straighter. "Yes, Ichirou-sensei."

"Great! Sasori-kun, start on your laps. Kyo-chan, you remember what I said earlier?"

Giving my best childish grin, I nodded and quickly ran to the spot in the shade that Ichirou had pointed out earlier. Now, all I could do was watch…or not. I still had the option to train with my chakra. My goal was to be at an average level by the time I entered the Academy, and even though I was making decent progress, I still wasn't there yet. I could still only sense chakra signatures that were half a mile away and no further; my control, on the other hand, was extremely impressive. I could keep multiple things attached to myself for over an hour or so before I lost control.

So, with Sasori and Ichirou's voices as my background noise, I set to work on training. My mind seemed to go into a meditative state as I focused on my chakra and controlling it. Using my other senses to help guide me, I slowly reached out with my chakra and began to pinpoint all the living things within the area; that I could get to anyway.

Ichirou was the person closest to me, while Sasori's familiar chakra signature continued to brush up against the area where I couldn't reach just yet. Unsurprisingly, they were the only two I could currently feel, which meant it was time to literally start expanding my horizons.

The moment I began to try and increase my range however, a harsh slap on the back snapped me out of it and knocked my small body over. "—Oof."

"Sorry~ I didn't realize you were so small, Kyo-chan!" Ichirou apologized, his voice as cheery as ever. For a moment I was confused, because I could still sense that Ichirou was standing in the middle of the training ground, observing my brother. Then I remembered that clones were a thing in this world, and sighed.

"No, it's okay…" I mumbled, a pout on my lips as I tried to rub my now-sore back. "Ichi-sensei, is there somethin' ya need?"

"Hm? Not really… I was just wondering what you were doing, Kyo-chan. I can feel your chakra spreading over the area. Mm, maybe work on being more subtle next time."

He could tell what I was doing? I felt my face heat up in embarrassment at being caught. Not that what I was doing was necessarily bad, but… I doubt adults would approve of a child toying with their chakra unsupervised or without them really knowing what they're doing.

Shrugging, I nervously laughed. "Uh...oops?"

Ichirou merely chuckled, ruffling my hair as he looked down at me. "Yeah, 'oops'. You've gotta be careful with chakra, Kyo-chan! It's a dangerous thing and not something to be playing with." I wanted to protest and say that I wasn't playing with it, but I thought better of it. "Maybe when you get older, I can teach you a few things! I'm an expert with chakra sensing~"

Right, because he's blind. With a huff, I poked out my lower lip to showcase my displeasure. "Okay, Ichi-sensei… I'll stop playing with it."

"Great," the man laughed before poking my cheek, "I'm going to go now; try and focus on Sasori-kun! Maybe you'll learn a few things."

Dubiously, I nodded my head as Ichirou's clone dispersed in a cloud of smoke. My pout immediately turned into an irritated frown. Guess I'll just have to deal with being bored for several more hours...

I didn't make Sasori take me to anymore of his training sessions after that. Since Ichirou was like a chakra sensing bloodhound, my training wasn't something I could do to occupy my time while waiting for Sasori to finish up his own training. Meaning I'd have to soak in my own boredom the whole time, and that wasn't something I wanted to waste my time doing, no matter how much I enjoyed spending time with my brother.

A month passed with Chiyo working, Sasori training, and me soaking in as much knowledge as I could without appearing too suspicious. I was so caught up in routine, that I nearly forgot about my birthday.

On May thirty-first, I found myself being awakened by the teasing hands of my brother. Sasori tickled me senseless, ignoring my breathless pleas for him to stop and only tickling me more. He was even smiling at my torture, laughing along with me.

"Sasori-kun, I think he's awake now." Chiyo's voice finally put an end to my terror, and I looked over to see her standing in the doorway of my room, an amused smirk on her face.

"Happy birthday, Kyo." Sasori said to me with a smile, prompting me to shoot up and hug him as I laughed, full of childish glee.

"Thanks, nii-sama!" I squealed before pulling away and jumping off my bed. Chiyo was my next target and I latched onto her just as I had with Sasori, "Thank you, baa-chan!"

Chiyo laughed, the loud sound hurting my ears, but I remained by her side as she began to mess up my already mussed hair. "Don't thank us yet! We haven't even started celebrating!"

The next thing I knew, I was being led into the kitchen; Chiyo lightly pushing at my back while Sasori dragged me by the hand. "Look what we made," said my brother, gesturing to the cake that was on the table.

My heart swelled in my chest at the sight of it. It was so simple: just a plain vanilla cake without any topping. I didn't like frosting or anything too sweet in my past life, and that fact still applied to this one as well. I was lucky to have a family that didn't mind forgoing the sugary icing.

Turning four didn't really seem like much of an achievement —especially since it was my second time doing so— but for me it meant I was one step closer to being able to enter Suna's Ninja Academy. I'm sure that was also something Chiyo and Sasori were looking forward to as well, wanting to see what I could accomplish and who I would become. I knew for sure that I was going to try my best to make them proud.

We gathered around the table as Chiyo served us each a slice of cake. There was no need for any fanfare, such as blowing out candles or singing the 'Happy Birthday' song. Honestly, we were more content without all of that, happy to just spend this significant day with each other. Sitting at the table, my eyes glanced at the two vacant seats, a heavy weight settling in my stomach. It had been quite awhile since the death of my parents, and I never really thought about them much. It was easier that way, but being here now, celebrating yet another birthday without them… It just suddenly struck me how much I actually missed them and wished they were here. I may not have gotten to spend as much time with them as Sasori did but, the moments we had shared before they died were still there.

Sasori, who must have been watching me, seemed to notice my inner turmoil. He ran a comforting hand through my hair, a sad smile on his face. "Finish your cake, Kyo. Afterwards you can open your presents."

That was a tactic obviously used on children to help sidetrack their thoughts or to also motivate them. Mentally, I was an adult, but yet...being in a child's body and having to constantly act my age didn't help much. So, his words affected me, getting his desired results no doubt. The thoughts of our parents still lingered, but my mood brightened nevertheless.

Opening presents was also a peaceful affair. Chiyo stood at the table, in charge of handing me the gifts, while Sasori sat next to me, a small smile on his face that let me know he was just as happy about my birthday as I was. "We each got you something ourselves," Chiyo said, a proud look on her face as she eyed Sasori. "Sasori-kun used the money he's received from missions to help get your gift."

Something like that had never even crossed my mind. I forgot that Sasori was taking missions and actually getting paid for them, albeit not as much as a higher ranked shinobi but it was something. Looking to my brother with wide, awestruck eyes, I gasped. "Wha— You got me somethin' with your own money, Saso-nii?"

The redhead in question nodded, but bit his lip, "Something like that…" I eyed him suspiciously for a few seconds, but turned my attention away when Chiyo set a gift in front of me.

"This one's from me!" She announced, stepping back with her hands on her hips, an expectant look on her face as she waited for me to open it. I needed no further invitation and ripped into the lazily wrapped box. Inside it were some more books and other shiny trinkets to add to my hoard. The books Chiyo had gotten me focused around the topics of poisons, antidotes, and herbs.

"Thank you, baa-chan!" I exclaimed, sitting up in my seat to give the woman a hug. I was truly thankful for the items, especially for the books since I had nearly finished reading all of the other ones that we currently owned.

Next was Sasori's gift, which was neatly wrapped in a long, rectangular box. I opened this one more carefully, mostly due to how beautiful it looked. Lifting the lid of the box, my breath left me at the contents within it. A wooden puppet of a dragon was placed on its side, surrounded by more paper to help cushion it. Suddenly, it moved, rising out of the box and moving fluidly through the air before hovering over my head, much like a halo would.

"I made it for you," Sasori said, using chakra strings to move the dragon again, this time making it rest on top of the table. "I used my money to buy the supplies for it… I thought it suited you, as you like to hoard things— like those dragons do in stories."

"It's so cool!" I was already out of my seat and in Sasori's lap, my arms wrapping around his neck as I squealed in excitement. His gift was such a thoughtful and gorgeous thing, and I couldn't wait to set it up in my room and have Sasori play with it for me. Watching it fly around was very soothing, not to mention my brother looked so at peace when he was messing with it just moments before. "Thank you so much, Saso-nii!"

Sasori couldn't help but laugh with me, one of his arms pulling me closer to him in a hug. Chiyo cackled at the sight, commenting about how we shouldn't leave her out of such a cute family moment. The next thing we knew, she was wrapping her arms around the both of us, crushing us in a massive bear hug and laughing all the while. I continued to giggle and squeal however, holding onto my grandmother and brother all the more. This was probably...the best birthday I could ever remember having.

。。。

Daniel blinked slowly, his eyes growing heavier by the minute. When it looked like he was about to pass out from exhaustion, he would suddenly jerk awake again, remembering where exactly he was. The brunet forced himself to stare with wide eyes at the road in front of him, his hands tightening their hold on the steering wheel.

Beside him, his mother sat in the passenger seat of the small pickup truck, dozing away with Max in her lap. They had luckily come across the truck while trekking down the abandoned highway. The keys to the truck were still in the ignition when they had found it, and the backseat had been full of useful supplies that Daniel and his family had so desperately needed. It was so packed back there that Max had been forced to sit up front on the hard, uncomfortable hump that separated the two seats. That is, until he crawled onto their mother's lap.

Though Daniel wished that he too, could lay back and get some rest, he knew that he couldn't stop until he knew for certain that they were safe. That may never be a permanent status, but temporary safety was better than none at all.

It had been a week since they abandoned their home, leaving behind anything they couldn't shove into bags for some other survivors to find. The beautiful neighborhood they had been apart of had been left in shambles, the dead being the only residents now. Daniel wasn't sure what became of most of his neighbors, but he was positive that the majority of them ended up like his father.

"Sarah— I mean Daniel," his mother's voice had the brunet glancing over to the passenger's seat. "Did you want me to drive for awhile? You should get some rest." The woman kept her voice low, being mindful of the sleeping child in her arms.

Daniel licked his lip, blinking his dark green eyes for probably the tenth time in that moment. "No," He mumbled with a shake of his head. "I'll find a safe place for us and then I'll rest." Daniel spoke with a finality in his voice, showing that he wouldn't bother to listen to any form of persuasion. It was his way or no way. That was the thing about Daniel, he liked to do things a certain way and couldn't handle letting anyone else take control.

His mother was silent for a few more minutes, watching him closely before heaving a deep sigh. She nodded, "Fine...but if you get tired, just let me know." Daniel merely grunted in reply, signalling the end of the conversation. Soon afterwards he was once again the only conscious person inside the truck, alone with only the sounds of the truck's engine and Max's soft snores to accompany him.

Chiyo had apparently been working at Sungakure's Hospital for awhile. Though she was retired, her skills as a medic-nin could still be put to use. I had actually no idea that Chiyo was a medic-nin, it was a fact that I had completely forgotten about from the series. That made me wonder...what else was I forgetting?

I probably should have written all my memories of Naruto down when I first had the chance, but I had been confident that I wouldn't need to. The idea was still there but, right now I have more important things to focus on: like the genin team that was currently watching over me. With Chiyo at the hospital and Sasori off with Ichirou, that left me alone with three, twelve year old brats. This team wasn't as annoying as the others at least, but they still could be very...ugh.

Currently we were at the park, which was much better than being cooped up inside the house, at least. Though with this team, I'd much rather be inside than in public, getting secondhand embarrassment from them and their antics. You see, I was a well behaved child when I wanted to be, so watching me wasn't much of a chore (something most of the genin teams had come to discover). That meant they were free to goof off without having to keep a constant eye on me if they didn't want to.

While I played in the sand (just killing time at this point), the three genin stayed back in the shade. Two were sitting on a stone bench, while the other stood in front of them, her hands on her hips. This doesn't look good… I mused to myself, watching the team with narrowed eyes.

"Yo, check this out!" Namiko, the girl that was standing, suddenly exclaimed to her two teammates. Before they even had a chance to blink, the dark-skinned girl was bringing her fist down in between them, punching the stone bench. At first, I cringed at the loud sound the impact made, mourning the girl's fist because that had to have hurt— but then the bench was crumbling, splitting in two and causing Namiko's friends to fall to the ground with it.

Damn. It could have really made for an impressive sight, that is if Namiko wasn't holding her hand to her chest and biting back tears. She tried to casually rub at her sore wrist, laughing through the pain, "You see that? N-Nothing to it, haha...ha…"

Oh my god.

The male member of the team, Touma, was quick to get back on his feet and approach Namiko. With a concerned expression on his face he began to examine his friend's hand. It honestly didn't look like he knew what he was doing, but his actions seemed to calm Namiko down either way. Her forest green eyes remained on him, no doubt nervous about the verdict. Meanwhile, the last member of the team, Sahori, was struggling to stand back up. Her whole body was trembling, the vibrations caused from Namiko's punch hitting her a bit too hard, apparently. It was kind of funny to watch, seeing as her scrawny limbs looked like they were made out of jelly.

"Dumbasses…" I muttered to myself before returning to playing with the sand. My current project was a mountain, and I was trying to see how big I could make it— though, I hadn't gotten far with it before a pudgy child crashed into it, knocking it to hell. All I could do was sit and stare, watching as a little boy no older than one, laid down where my mountain used to be.

"Oops." That was all he had to say for himself, which was a given considering his age, but honestly? What the hell, where did he even come from? What was the use of chakra sensing if I couldn't even detect a one-year-old child before he showed up and trampled all over my hard work?

I continued to stare at the boy wordlessly, watching as he rolled over onto his stomach and began to move his arms and legs...much like someone would do when making a snow angel. His eyes were black, with hair the same color, styled in spiky tufts atop his head. "Yūra!" a voice suddenly yelled, followed by the sound of footsteps quickly approaching. A woman suddenly appeared, sharing the same coloring as the child. She quickly scooped the little boy up, brushing the sand off of him as she scolded him under her breath. "Yūra, what did I say about running off?!" Yūra, as she called him, just shrugged before sticking practically his whole hand in his mouth. I frowned in disgust.

"E-Excuse me," A quiet voice spoke up from behind me. Tilting my head back, I could see the freckled face of Touma approaching. His auburn hair was in slight disarray —probably from the bench incident earlier— making it look like his small ponytail was about to come undone. The boy paid it no mind however, keeping his hazel eyes on the woman in front of me. Namiko and Sahori were still in the shade, now talking to an older shinobi...trying to explain the destroyed bench, no doubt. "Do you need something…?"

Touma came to a stop directly behind me, before picking me up so that I was out of the woman's reach. It was odd in my opinion, to be so suspicious of someone within the village, as protected and secure as it should be. Then again, a war was going on, so it could never hurt to be careful with strangers.

The woman furrowed her eyebrows at the two of us, finally giving us her full attention, "Pardon? Oh no, I was just picking up my son here… He has a tendency to run off when nobody's looking." She sighed tiredly, "—Oh, sorry about your...thing, by the way." Her apologies were sent towards me, to which I nodded quietly in reply, not really sensing anything sincere from it. The way she held herself… she had to be one of those uppity civilians.

Touma's hold tightened on me slightly, and he swallowed nervously before nodding his head. "O-Oh, okay… Have a good day then."

The woman nodded and adjusted her hold on her son as she gave us a fake smile, "I'll be sure to." With that she left, taking her annoying son with her.

Touma instantly deflated once she was out of sight, obviously relieved to be through with that encounter. Sahori and Namiko regrouped with us, the former still holding onto her wrist. "Well," Sahori began, rolling her black eyes, "We need to leave. Nami's little stunt got us banned from the park."

Namiko was quick to defend herself with a huff, "We didn't get banned! We just have to leave until we can pay back the cost of that bench, tch. Besides— it's totally worth it. I mean did you see what I did back there?" The girl laughed, obviously proud of what she had done. Her sheer strength wasn't all that shocking however, considering how buff she looked. I wasn't too sure if that was due to her being very passionate about being a kunoichi, or if it had something to do with a kekkei genkai. Either way, she could crush me with her pinky.

Sahori scoffed, flipping her dark pink hair to the side. There wasn't much to flip however, considering she had it cut short with an undercut to match. "Please clarify. Was it the part where you destroyed public property, or the part where you nearly broke your wrist?"

"No, it was the part where I turned your scrawny ass into a bowl of jello."

"O-Okay!" Touma was quick to interrupt, "Please don't do this in front of the child." His voice lowered when he said the last part, making me roll my eyes. That went unnoticed however, as the genin began to bicker again.

"He is only four," Sahori retorted, scrunching up her nose. "I'm sure he doesn't even understand what's going on right now."

Namiko laughed loudly at that, the sound making all of us scramble to cover our ears (Touma took one for the team, choosing to assist me in covering my ears instead of covering his). The black-haired girl calmed down enough to eye Sahori as if she was the most ignorant person on the planet, which was entirely possible. The buns on Namiko's head shook a little with her movements, "Hori-chan, there's a reason Kyojin is so easy to babysit. It's not because he's too stupid to misbehave, it's because he's smart enough to know not to."

It was easy to tell that another argument was about to break out between the two girls, so Touma was quick to intervene again, looking extremely exasperated. "Nami, Hori, please. L-Let's just leave now. My arms are starting to hurt anyway…" As if to prove his point, he readjusted the grip he had on me, which made me frown. I didn't weigh that much, my god.

Snorting, Namiko took me from Touma's grasp, maneuvering me so that she could give me a piggyback ride. "Let's go then, yo!" She yelled, already running off towards my house. It was always fun when Namiko got to carry me, because when she ran she'd use her chakra to enhance her speed, making for a wild ride. I laughed giddily with her, sensing the other two genin right behind us, though at a less rushed pace. "Those losers can eat our dust, right Kyo-chan?"

"Yeah!" I replied, practically yelling into her ear. She whined at that, which only made me laugh harder. This whole experience would certainly make for an exciting story at dinner tonight.

author's note: let me say now that yūra is a canon character. just look him up to learn more about him. as for ichirou, namiko, touma, and sahori— they're all my ocs and probably won't show up too much other than when i need them to.

this chapter was beta'd by the amazing fortheloveofb!

story rec: "so not happening" by angelbloodlover