Yuri felt like she was barging in, watching something she shouldn't be seeing, when Ichiyo-sama struck his daughter straight on the cheek. She personally believed that having all the Yubo-nin gathered in a circle, even if it was trial protocol, was humiliating enough by itself. Why, even the recently initiated 5 year old twins were present watching the trial! Yuri closed her eyes out of respect for her honorable cousin... or, as the trial was going, no longer honorable.
Ichiyo-sama was a harsh stoic woman, Yuri could have sworn she had never seen the woman smile, yet she was always collected and poised, very unlike the woman she was watching that day:
"I always knew you would bring ruin to our family! You just had to prove me right, didn't you?!" The woman spat, before her eyes traveled down at the pregnant woman's frame. "You disgust me!"
The circle was quiet, only the sound of the fire lamps in the corners of the meadow crackling in the background. Slowly, Yuri saw Airi-sama raised her gaze to meet her mother.
"Yell at me all that you want, I knew I would never be welcomed with opened arms." She muttered. "I was never welcomed with opened arms by you anyway, not even as a child… If that had been the case, at least once, then perhaps I wouldn't..." The woman licked her lips and shook her head. "No... I'm not blaming this on you." She looked around, repairing on the oldest members of the Yubo-nin. "On any of you really... This is my responsibility. Only." She took a deep breath and looked back up to her mother. "So, yell at me all that you want, unleash your fury if you must... But, please... Allow me to stay."
"You are a deserter!"
"Am I?" She smiled sadly. "Isn't a deserter, by definition, someone who leaves? I am not leaving, I am coming to you. I need your shelter." She begged. Ichiyo-sama was livid listening to her words. "And, to prove I am being honest... I have another confession to make... It is about Mamoru Onii-sama."
Yuri' s eyes grew wide listening the reason behind the previous heir's desertion: he had been soiled with foreign iryo-ninjutsu, because of Airi's intervention. Out of shame, the boy had deserted, feeling no longer worthy to be amongst the clan. In Ichiyo's face, Yuri saw it was perhaps the one thing the woman would never forgive her daughter for, even more relevant than the fact the girl had not only returned home after admitting to have escaped, but also while pregnant. Everyone was focused on this, and because of that ignored Airi's own expression. There was more to the story, Yuri was sure, but the woman would not speak any further.
"Ojii-sama used to speak about the value in the strength of the bloodline. This child... he's one of yours, even if you don't consider me one of your own anymore... I don't want your protection for my sake? This is not about me."
Ichiyo-sama took a step back and turned around. Her eyes fell once, very quickly and almost imperceptibly, over Yuri before she called for the elders to deliberate. Because according to the Sacred Three, a pardon for desertion could be justified by the Clan Head. The question was, would it be justified in this case?
Following protocol, those who stayed behind sat down on the grass, none of them making a move to approach the accused, kneeling in the middle of the circle. After what felt like an eternity, the elders returned and Ichiyo-sama took a step to the front.
"Who's the father?" She asked first. Airi took her time to answer.
"A man you'd never know." She said. "A nobody, really." Ichiyo-sama narrowed her eyes.
"If we were to take in the child, how can we know that man will not come back to reclaim him?"
"I am not letting you take my son away from me." Airi said menacingly, before relaxing her shoulders. "Nor anyone else… He will not come looking for him. I can vouch for it."
Ichiyo-sama scoffed, clearly her word meaning nothing to her. Then, the Head looked back over her shoulder, receiving nods of approval before facing her daughter again.
"There is so much you must declare before a definite, final answer... But as of now, you might stay." Airi's eyes widened. "We will provide you with care during the pregnancy. After which, if the child is born healthy, he will be ours. We will not keep it away from you, but he will be a child of the Yubokumin, my child as Clan Head, we will train him and accept him into our ranks-"
"What if he isn't born healthy?" Airi asked with a trembling voice. Ichiyo-sama didn't answer and Yuri also grew curious. She had said if the child was healthy he would be ours, if he wasn't, would they be sent away?
"He will be my new heir," Ichiyo-sama continued instead, "since you have pledged guilty as why I lost my previous one. This child will be innocent of his mother's crimes, but that will be your punishment. Someday, he will be Clan Head."
Yuri' s eyes opened wide with realization. Many eyes traveled her way, and openly complained about the resolution, but although the girl kept a stoic face, she was internally jumping of happiness.
Thank you for coming back, Cousin Airi-sama!
The following seven months passed by in a bliss for Yuri and so did the following years. The tent of Airi-sama was usually avoided by their family members. Even Mama had once warned her against coming near that place. She hadn't listened since the first day, and since that day she stayed.
They had been traveling down the south of the Fire territory, and came upon the intersection with the Land of Waves, where they decided to camp to expect the birth. The baby was born on a warm day, as the sun was setting in the horizon. Yuri noticed the disappointment of the elders when they saw the baby didn't turn out to be a boy but a girl instead. Yuri, on the other hand, was in the clouds. She had also been expecting a male to be born, but found herself even more thrilled hearing the cries of the girl. Airi-sama gave the baby the name of Gillie, a strange name Yuri couldn't understand and had never heard before. She was at least glad the clan had allowed the poor woman to name her own child.
The months following the birth of the baby, Gillie was never once left on her own, passing from cradling arms to cradling arms. It had been 5 years since the last time the family received a baby. A baby, that honorably so, had been born with perfect health and surprisingly dense and strong chakra. During this same period of time, Airi-sama was left on the tent in a delicate state and nobody seemed to care. Even their medics treated her in the bare minimum and never going out of their way for her. Yuri observed little Gillie going from tent to tent, delighting each of the branch families, while her mother laid half-comatose in a forsaken tent.
For this reason, Yuri made it her job, when she wasn't out in her Yubo-nin duties to care for the cousin that had only taken a heavy burden from her future off her shoulders with her return. It was the least she could do. She would sit by her bed and the baby's empty cradle and read aloud from her books, open the flaps of the tent when the wind blew and close them to insulate the insides during the warm days. Once Airi-sama was able to raise on her feet, she would take her out for walks along the beach and sometimes, steal the baby from her aunts, so the three of them could admire the view in the distance together. It seemed to Yuri that the woman was never able to enjoy her child before someone came to snatch it away. Oh, and little Gillie delighted in the attention alright, but to Yuri it was obvious Airi-sama was sad most of the times.
As soon as little Gillie began to walk, she was taken by the Clan Head to begin her training. Yuri had been there the day it happened, when Ichiyo-sama walked in announcing them to begin to pack, as they would be traveling West and on her way out grabbed the hand of Gillie.
"Where are you taking my daughter without my permission?" Airi asked her mother, while Yuri bit her lips wishing to be anywhere but there.
"I am taking a daughter of the Yubokumin to begin her training." The woman said slowly, irking a brow, challenging her to go against her words, before looking down at the child, resembling very much her family members with the rich brown skin and raven hair.
The only trait Yuri found in Gillie uncommon of a Yubokumin was the strange yellowish-hint there was to her green eyes. Mama had called them hazel eyes, but all Yuri could see was green and yellow. Was it a trait the child had inherited from her father? Two years had passed, but the scandal of Airi Yubokumin and her fall from grace was still as controversial as the day she returned pregnant from a man no one ever saw after two years of absence. What was there to say? The Yubokumin were terribly gossips.
Yuri wondered whether their family and the Clan Head would have doted on the child as much as they did if she had resembled more that man instead of their own.
"But... she's too young-"
"She has three years to prepare herself if she wants to become a Yubo-nin. Do you have an objection on that?"
Yuri ignored the two adult women for a moment and focused on the child instead. She was toying with the gleaming bracelets her Obaama-sama carried in the wrist of the hand that kept her captive. Noticing her attention, the child smiled at Yuri and meant to reach for her without success. The kid struggled against her Obaama-sama's hand, reaching for Yuri, while the women kept on talking. Yuri tilted her head wondering what was it little Gillie wanted from her. She looked around before looking down at her lap. Yuri raised her book with an irked brow and little Gillie nodded eagerly. Dubiously, she extended the book her way and the toddler grabbed it, just in time for Ichiyo-sama to say.
"Let us go, Gillie." Little Gillie grinned at Yuri one last time before disappearing out of the tent with her Obama-sama and her book.
Yuri would soon realize, Gillie wasn't only a little thief of titles and books, but also of candies and narutomaki. Still, she wouldn't have had it any other way. Yuri had lost Papa and Onii-sama, and had never had younger siblings. In Gillie she found the closest thing to a little sister. She gave her her everything, never expecting anything in return. She would become a great influence in the personality of the Gillie Yubokumin in the future, a ghost of the past whose name and face Gillie would never remember, forgotten and buried like the rest of their clan.
Airi smiled, watching her mother painting the red marks on her daughter's cheeks, while her eyes blurred. After the woman was done, the ceremony erupted into a large-scale party in her daughter's honor. She had never strived to make her child do what she never could, but it had ended up happening somehow, organically so. She was only proud.
"Mama! Mama!" She could hear Gillie's voice, somewhere in the crowd, looking for her.
"I am here, dumpling! I am-"
Airi turned around, doubling in half, choking in a series of coughs burning her chest. She walked in the opposite direction she knew she would find her daughter at and walked into the woods to avoid making a scene. Under its dark canopy, she leaned on a tree and took out a handkerchief. Her eyes squeezed shut as she felt a ripping feeling in her throat. She leaned her forehead on the tree, its rough texture digging into her skin, until the coughing ceased and she regained her breath. When she pulled her handkerchief away it was covered in blood. Airi pinched her nose bridge and tossed the cloth away with a jerking motion, before covering her eyes and allowing herself to cry, feeling only deserving of what was happening to her.
She sobbed feeling the sands of her clock life wasting away, tick by tick, losing her time. She wouldn't always be here for her girl, the only reason she had ever tried to dig herself out of the literal hole she had been into, in the first place. Her Gillie. What was she supposed to do? In moments like this, she reminisced of Orochimaru's words. He used to say love was weakness. Had he been right? Because she wasn't afraid to die, but she was afraid to die and leave her little loved one behind.
"Airi-sama?" Her head snapped up to see a teenager standing a few meters away.
"Yuri." She said, before the teenager looked down at her hand. Airi found there the handkerchief she had not so long ago tossed away. The young one handed it back at her with a sad expression.
"Will you be okay?" Yuri asked her as the woman retrieved the cloth. Airi quickly rubbed her face clean and straightened up.
"Yes, of course. Why do you ask?" She asked with a smile as if nothing was happening.
"You will die." Yuri said with a sad frown and once again Airi was taken back in time, to a place by the west of the Land of Fire, where a stranger boy told her if she went to the frontier with Ame she would die. The fear she had felt could not compare to the one she felt now.
But she had learned the wrong way that denying reality only made things worse.
"Well... I am just glad Gillie will have you around to take care of her, mm?" She said with a smile that didn't feel sincere to either of them. Yuri looked down at her hands, looking depressed, before looking up and nod.
"Will you bear the traveling North?" Yuri asked cautiously. "The elders have decided the villages have lost control of the war. We are stepping in as pacifiers." Airi frowned at the new information. "You knew we are heading that way... didn't you?"
"My health is not something you should concern yourself with, Yuri." Airi walked closer to place a hand on the girl's head, before walking away, ignoring her questioning.
"You are like a sister to me, Airi-sama!" The teen exclaimed at her back with her fists tightened up in the air. "And, so is Gillie! Of course I mind anything that might be of your detriment! I want to be of help!"
"Airi-sama." The woman said with her back still turned. "Even the little ones no longer call me that... Thank you, Yuri, for always making me feel I am still worthy of something." She looked over her shoulder. "You are also a reason why I keep fighting to bear this... but none of our best healers have been able to do anything for me. This is just how things are." Airi took a deep breath. "And that is okay."
Airi left the forest, leaving a decided girl behind. Yuri would also have a say on how things went down.
It was a mistake, a miscommunication, a battle strategy gone south, and sadly, what led to a tragedy that marked the Land Of Fire's history forever: the Yubo-nin had left west towards the frontier with Ame, leaving the rest of the clan, specifically the elders, children and some special cases behind. They were meant to be indirectly sheltered by Konoha's troops of shinobi. There was a reason why they never trusted villagers and for a critical moment, they forgot it. When an attempt of Suna to expand its border further north took place, the Konoha-nin were relocated to protect the southwestern frontier of the Land of Fire. Somehow Ame, irritated with the nomadic intervention in their attempts to pacify the armed, conflict came upon this information and sent their shinobi towards the most vulnerable Yubokumin group. By the time the Yubo-nin discovered this it was too late, they had lowered their guard enough to also suffer the consequences with their lives. Seen from above, the Land of Fire was drilled with a hole of darkness as the western woods burned, filled with the screams of dozens of people. It was the historical night of the Fall of Clan Yubokumin... Or seemingly so.
Yuri's eyes opened wide as a hand manually covered her mouth to keep any sound of her ragged breaths to be heard behind the boulder she was hiding from the hostile shinobi that had been following her for days.
Their group was seen as they made their escape, pushed further northwest, and whoever was the leader of the vicious people the person had most probably declared he wanted every single one of them dead. It was a group of around 7 members, who managed to escape the massacre: two active Yubo-nins, two retired ones, two non-fighting women and a child. At some point, they'd had to split. Yuri, her cousin Kaito-sama, her other cousin Airi-sama and Gillie separated from their old uncle and his recently retired wife, and Kumi-sama who was cousin Hiroshi's expecting wife. Now, Yuri and Kaito had left Airi and Gillie inside a cave, and gone out to search for the other survivors. Only what they found were no longer survivors. Kaito kept her from doing something stupid, in the middle of her rage as she saw Kumi's lifeless form, and they barely escaped, losing one another, finding one another and losing themselves again.
Yuri turned around to find her cousin next to him now, with a finger over his lips before motioning her to follow him. They managed to sneak around the trackers and ran for their lives until coming upon the cave where they had left the sick woman and child behind. As soon as they walked in they both found themselves with a kunai aimed at each of their necks. Even in sickness, Airi-sama wasn't going down without a fight.
"It is us." Yuri said raising her hands up, before Airi looked behind her towards the five year old standing with a wide stance. The kid raised her hands and exclaimed:
"Kai!"
After a moment, the kid nodded and the mother lowered her kunais.
"What did you find?" Airi-sama asked them, while Kaito slumped on the floor and covered his ears, fighting the sobs he had contained for so long. Yuri looked down at the boy who had always bothered her as a kid and went to kneel next to him, stifling a groan coming from her injured side, and patted his back.
"Resilience, Kaito." Then, Yuri looked up at Airi-sama and the child, seeming concern. "Dead." Yuri said. "All of them... Kaito, found his father." At the mention of this the teenager boy cried even more. Yuri looked up, fighting the images her brain was unwillingly creating on what must have happened to her mother. Yuri took a deep breath. "Our only hope now is to reach Konoha. Walking into a civilian town would bring the murderers into their midst, we cannot bring harm upon civilians."
"Konoha?" Airi-sama asked her and Yuri nodded.
"Before they reach us." She continued, shoving Kaito on the side. "Come on, stand up." The boy shook his head and kept on crying, face buried in his knees. Yuri seethed and pulled him up by the arms.
"Weren't you always bragging what a fine shinobi, you are? What an excellent shinobi, you are?! I need that shinobi you talked about to make an appearance-!"
"Yuri..." Airi spoke softly.
"NO! Airi-sama... for just this once... let me do the talking." The girl looked back at the boy. "My Mama is also dead, you self-centered brat! But we still have a mother and child to get to safety, so get your head out of your butt and cooperate with me, will you? That's what we Yubo-nin do, we protect the vulnerable!" The sobs didn't cease and they mingled with the cavernous echo and water dripping.
"Mama?" Yuri heard Gillie's voice and her rabid scowl directed towards her cousin slowly lost its strength. "I can help my cousins to protect us, too? I am a Yubo-nin."
"This is... too dangerous, dumpling."
Yuri snapped around and went to kneel in front of Gillie with her hands on her shoulders.
"You will be safe! You won't die, Gillie!" Perhaps she shook the girl too forcefully. "You will live and love and marry and have children, see the world and read a ten thousand books in your lifetime, you hear me?" Yuri exclaimed panting, the fear and anxiety she had been feeling since that night finally coming out. Her gut-feeling had been right the whole time, if anyone would not be doing any of those things, it was Yuri.
The teenager cleaned her face and let go, before standing up.
"We need to make a plan... We-we-we need- Everyone's death! We need to-to be smart about this- Airi-sama, you are-you are a v-very smart person, a-aren't you? I-I- Can you- Will you help me think of- I was thinking maybe we could- COULD YOU SHUT UP WITH YOUR CRIES?!" Yuri snapped looking down to her male cousin. As the echoing in the cave receded, the voices in the distance became clearer. Everyone looked up, hearing the approaching voices. Yuri looked down to Kaito with a scowl, who was in the middle of a second breakdown, and then up at Airi-sama growing more pale and exhausted by the second, then at the little girl stuck in the limbo between confusion and terror. Yuri grabbed the woman and child's hands.
"Let's go." She said.
"But, Kaito-" Airi-sama said looking behind over her shoulder as they left the cave.
"He can take care of himself. You two are my only responsibility now." Yuri thought herself to be already damned for doing so, but she didn't care. They had lost everyone, at least Airi-sama and Gillie...
At least Airi-sama and Gillie.
"Yuri, we have no plan."
"The plan is simple, Airi-sama." Yuri said eyes focused in front of her. "If it comes down to it, I'm staying behind and you two will keep on going-"
"Yuri-"
"I am making the rules now!" The teenager snapped, before they heard the steps behind them. Turning around they found a red faced Kaito, who took the small case Airi-sama carried with her, what little she had managed to grab before the attack. He nodded at Yuri and Yuri nodded back at him.
They traveled as fast as they could for a day, considering the sick woman's needs, before the trackers caught up with them at Tenchi bridge. Kaito, Yuri, Gillie and Airi, stood on a line facing the five shinobi with Ame's symbol in their hitae-ate. They were meters away, camouflaged by the trees, but just as they could see them, they could be seen, and stood there looking at one another.
"You three keep going." Yuri said decidedly. "I'll stay behind and place them in a genjutsu. I don't know how long I'll be able to hold the five of them, though... so you have to destroy the bridge, Kaito."
"Yuri, no." Airi muttered fervently. "I... You know I don't have much... I should be staying behind!"
"No offense, Airi-sama... but we both know you cannot make a proper genjutsu." The teenager said, eyes still in the enemy. "Kaito?"
"Yes... Yuri-sama." It was perhaps, the first time the boy ever talked to her with respect and Yuri felt her eyes glistening.
"Take care of them, mm?" Yuri said slowly. "Do not. Stop. Until you reach. Konoha."
Kaito lowered his head in a deep bow and nodded. Slowly, Yuri heard her companions leaving her sides one by one, just as the enemy began to march their direction.
"Mama, why is cousin... er... why is that cousin staying behind?"
Yuri wished she could have hugged the girl once before they left. She had been with her since the day she was born and still couldn't remember her name! Yuri smiled. Could she blame her? She blamed it on the Yubokumin and the dozens of cousins they all had.
"Kaito!" She called raising her hands in position. "I want to see fireworks coming off that blasted bridge!" The enemy were running towards her. The last thing she heard before going into the world of illusions, from which she wouldn't wake up again was:
"Fire Style: Red Thread Ball Jutsu!"
Airi finally understood what Ojii-sama had meant all those years ago when he spoke of the united family being stronger. As she grew up she thought it a burden to travel around with a group as large as the Yubokumin around the Land of Fire, but their group of three demonstrated that when in precarious situations, it was best to be surrounded by dozens of people that would have your back.
The Ame trackers disappeared off their trail for days, before they reappeared in double numbers, which could already inform Airi what had happened to Yuri. They were forced to travel further north by the following menace. A week later, Kaito followed Yuri's steps and sacrificed himself for the mother and daughter to ever have a chance to move back towards the South. Airi knew they were meant to refrain from walking into towns swarming with innocent civilians, but she feared that if she didn't, she would perish in the middle of the road, leaving her child on her own.
Airi surveilled the village from the distance and grasped her daughter's hand before walking towards it. She had no money, nothing of value to offer, so all there was for her to do was beg. Mother and child went from business to business asking for anything the owners could manage to provide them, but mostly were received with a rude negative and an invitation to leave the place. Their appearance was no joke, they had been traveling for weeks after their family's demise.
"Stay right were I can see you." Airi told her daughter, placing down the luggage on the floor and after receiving an affirmative nod walked into a bar, in search of mercy. She found nothing of the sort, but something worthy of consideration. She looked back over her shoulder towards the crystal door where she could still see her daughter waiting for her and then back towards the two shinobi sitting by the counter, wearing the metal forehead protectors with the sign of the Leaf engraved on them.
Her feet remained glued to the floor as she found herself in a dilemma. Yuri had been clear about where they were meant to go, her younger cousins had given their life for them to reach that place. But... Was it wise for, specifically, her and her child to walk into Konoha? It was something she had thought about for the length of their trek and came with the conclusion that it was the least worse of options... Then, why was she feeling fear?
Should she fear? It was the home of Orochimaru, only her child's father, who had once threatened to kill her if she ever went to Konoha... but hadn't he also feared for her to come into Konoha? The truth was that village of the Leaf was perhaps both the safest and most dangerous place for her and her daughter to be at... and compared to the dangerous habitat behind its walls and the people aiming to kill them...
Airi cleared her throat after walking closer to the men. Up-close, she noticed, they couldn't be much older than she was. She had no plan B, so this would have to be it.
"May we help you?" The young man with a cigarette on his mouth was the first one to see her. His companion turned around on the booth to get a glimpse of her as well.
"You are Konoha-nin." She said and the two men looked at one another and then nodded at her. "My name is Airi Yubokumin. My daughter and I might be the last living survivors of our family." Listening to her words the men's eyes widened with comprehension. Airi wondered then if Konoha already knew about what went down at the West of the country. "We've been traveling for a long time, hoping to reach and take shelter in Konoha, but we've got a dozen trackers from Ame after us. We want you to assist us to get to your village safely. I plead." She finished with a bow and stood in that position for what felt like an eternity.
"A dozen trackers you said? And you came into this civilian village knowing you had that many behind your back?" The first man asked taking a sniff out of his ciggarette. "That is not good."
"I apologize!" She said with her head still down.
"Hn." The man slowly stood up.
"What are we going to do, Seigyoku?" The man in a green jumper asked.
In fact, these two ninjas Airi came to ask for help that day were none other than Seigyoku Shiranui and the Eternal Genin, Might Dai, whose children would unknowingly grow to become her own child's genin teammates.
"An escort mission." Seigyoku patted the man's arm. "That sound to me like a mission for a genin, eh Dai?"
"You're forgetting they've got shinobi after them? It it more a a B-rank mission!"
"Then it is your lucky day, my friend." The man stood on, dropping his cigarette and stepping on it. "I can tell you've come a long way, m'am." Seigyoku nodded at her. "Don't worry. You are safe now." He looked at Might Dai one last time. "I'm gathering the others and we'll keep the trackers off your tail. Get this woman and her daughter as fast as possible to the Hokage."
"YES, CAPTAIN!" The other man jolted on his feet with a raised fist in front of him, before Seigyoku disappeared with a poof. Airi saw the man in green leave money over the counter before turning around to her with an amicable fresh smile, like she hadn't seen in a long time. "Now, where exactly is this daughter of yours, madame?" Airi was slightly distracted by the man's appearance and thick brows, that she had to snap out of her reverie.
"Er-Oh. Why, I left her just outside the-" Airi turned around to find the absence of her daughter. "door." Airi stared at the empty spot for a moment, then she gasped and ran out of the establishment, with the man in green on her heels.
"Oh? Is she gone?"
"I shouldn't have left her alone!" Airi gritted her teeth, scolding herself as she stood in the middle of the rustic street looking around. Feeling her heart hammering the insides of her chest, fighting its way out of her body, Airi cupped her hands around her mouth. "GILLIE!" She yelled.
"Mama!" She heard a voice in the distance.
"GILLIE!" She repeated.
"Mama! Mama!"
"This way! I heard it this way!" The man in green jumped on his spot, motioning her to follow after him.
It was definitely the most traumatic experience Airi went through in her life, and that was saying a lot for someone who had lived her last teenage years inside an underground laboratory as a human experiment. It didn't take long for them to find the man keeping her daughter hostage, he wanted to be found after all, but it was still a torturous eternity for Airi. They were led to the outskirts of the village, where they were surrounded by the same dozen shinobi mother and daughter had been escaping from for days. Both Airi and her escort looked around themselves, sweat coming down their foreheads. Didn't the other man mention this person next to her was a genin? She wasn't an expert in foreign shinobi rankings, but she was sure there was only so much a genin could do in this situation and she couldn't necessarily fight.
"You have been nothing but an elusive prey, nomad." The man holding her daughter, kicking the air and struggling to get herself free, purred behind the iron helmet covering the upper side of his face, keeping his eyes hidden. "That ends today. The era of the obtrusive Yubokumin reaches its end today!"
"Let go of my daughter, you dog!" Airi spat rabidly, watching the the tears running down the child's face. "Or, I'll kill you! I SWEAR I'LL KILL YOU!" She was bluffing, of course.
"Should I?" The shinobi mocked, rearranging his grasp on Gillie to prove a point. He grabbed her by her collar and then by her black hair, making the girl scream in pain as he jerked her around like a doll.
"It hurts! Letgoletgo!" Gillie then started to scream piercingly to the ear and joined her now free hands together in a position neither Airi or Might Dai or any of the present had ever seen.
Gillie's hair flashed with a blinding aura of darkness, elongating as if it were made of slime, long enough so that she reached the ground carefully, falling down on fours. The girl looked up at her captor, where the rest of her hair kept on growing.
"What the-?" The shinobi with the helmet stared at his hand as the thicker strands of raven color began to circle his hand, entrapping him, curling up its upper arm and around his neck...
Like vines.
Airi didn't allow herself to be shocked with what was happening and instead turned around, summoning the remaining strengths she still had to support Might Dai. Their fight was soon evened out by the arrival of Seigyoku Shiranui and his teammates.
Konoha. Gillie stared at the great gates of that mysterious place she had heard about growing up and imagined about. Her bedstories somehow always seemed to involve one hero of old from that almost mystical place, like the White Fang, and shortly before her family moved north she had heard about the recent feats of the uprising Yellow Flash of Konoha. Was he around? Would she be able to meet the Yellow Flash? She looked up to her hand, soflty grasping her mother's. The young kid looked up at her, filled with curiousity about the large village in front of them and what it had to offer them, as if the woman could tell her the answers to her questions.
Might Dai, the man that had been with them the entire road there, returned from the inspection site and stood in front of them. His partner and other fellow shinobi had gone their own way after the bad men that had been giving Gillie and Mama a hard time and killed cousins... er... those two cousins.
"You can enter now." He said looking at each of them. "I am getting ahead to inform the Hokage about... well, everything. He'll be waiting for you when you arrive at his office. The Hokage Tower."
"Hn." Airi bowed deeply and noticing her mother's actions Gillie followed her actions. "I will always be thankful for your assistance, Might-sama." Did Mama want to cry? "You have no idea what it has meant for us... You are a great man. Thank you for taking care of us."
Gillie straightened up to see the man grinning from ear to ear, rubbing the back of his head, before he raised a fist in front of him.
"I am just doing my job, madame." He said serious, before smiling again. "You might want to grab a snack after the long trek! You can say it's on Might Dai's account, yes?"
"Thank you."
The man nodded once, before ruffling Gillie's hair, who after the recent events jumped away out of inertia. The man ran away leaving a trail of dirt in the air and dissapearing in the distance. After they were alone her mother pulled the luggage from the floor and looked down at her.
"This is our new home. Could Gillie make herself like it?"
Gillie tilted her head and shrugged with a nod, before they walked inside its walls. In comparison, after weeks in the forest encountering only hostile faces with killing intentions, Konoha was a very nice place. At first sight, Gillie liked it. It was colorful, with lots of people she was glad to see (even if she hid behind her mother's long skirts whenever anyone dared to look her way.) and children! Back with their family she had been the youngest one since she had memory. She wasn't looking forward to talking to the native children though, but seeing them was... fun.
"Is Gillie hungry? Should we get something to eat?" The girl eagerly shook her head in a nod at Mama, feeling a hole in the mouth of her stomach. She couldn't remember the last time she had eaten anything else other than edible roots and berries, and by the looks of this place there were many options to choose from. "What do you think about that place?" Mama asked pointing away. "It looks promising." The woman then looked back to the Hokage tower in the distance. "We'll have to find our way back to the main road afterwards." Gillie barely heard this, already savoring whatever food she'd get her hands on. Even as a child, she could be a glutton.
They sat inside the restaurant gaining stares from people because of their appearance. The strangers stared a lot, making Gillie uncomfortable, but finally they walked out with their bellies satiated ans directionless. Well, none of them had ever visited Konoha, had they?
"I..." Mama looked around seeming lost.
"Should I jump over a roof to get a better view, Mama?"
"No!" The woman said immediately, before trying to explain herself with a softer tone. "No, Gillie. Things are different at villages. Some people don't appreciate having shinobi jumping on their rooftops."
"Hn." The girl nodded listening intently.
"Also, I don't want you to walk away from me, even for one minute, okay?"
"I understand, Mama." Gillie said, her attention already lost watching a child running across the street with an open backpack, leaving a trail of books on her way. Gillie's eyes brightened up at the sight of them. If the girl left, could she be allowed to pick them up and keep them for herself?!
"Maybe we should ask for directions..." She heard Mama saying, but she was still watching the girl who turned back noticing her mistake and began to retrieve her belongings. Gillie pouted with a frown. "Mm, what is it?" Mama followed her gaze. "Oh!" She looked down at her. "Should we help her?"
Gillie hesitated, suddenly nervous with nearing the stranger girl, clearly her age: five fingers. Nevertheless, she was a nomad ninja, and what was it that one cousin said? They protect the vulnerable! Gillie nodded eagerly and Mother and daughter neared the girl.
"Hello!" Mama grinned at the girl, while she began helping to pick the books. Gillie picked one up too but remained watching the cover. It was very pretty and new! Could she... If she ran away would she be able to keep it?
"Oh, good morning!" The little girl exclaimed watching them, and observing their luggage and clothing she stopped fixing her belongings and jumped up on her spot. "Are you travelers from outside?!"
Gillie frowned. Was the girl a dummy? It wasn't like they could be travelers from the inside.
"Gillie and I arrived today." Mama said with a nod.
"Gillie?" The girl's eyes widened looking her way. "That's a very pretty name!" She chirped and Gillie found herself smiling unconsciously. "My name is Rin Nohara. Papa gave Rin to me and also Nohara, but Rin means "companion". What does your name mean?" Gillie looked up at Mama with a confused stare. Were names supposed to have meanings?
Mama laughed sheepishly and rubbed her head.
"I just liked the ring of it." Mama explained.
"Oh! You are her Mommy? I thought you were sisters, ha ha!"
"That's very nice thing from you to say, Rin Nohara..." Gillie irked an incredulous brow watching Mama's embarrassment, before the woman noticed her stare and cleared her throat. "We were just walking into the village and saw you. We thought you might need some help." She handed the collected books and trinkets.
"Thank you very much! I was going to the Academy! I swear this isn't common of me," The girl began to sweat, "but I was running late this morning."
"The Academy?"
"The Ninja Academy! I want to be a ninja- A-A- A medic ninja! I want to help in the hospital! Like Okaasan!" The kid threw her hands up in the air.
"That is very honorable of you, Rin."
The girl giggled embarrassedly, before remembering something:
"Yesterday, I went late to bed, I was studying for the test- Did I say I have a test today? I overslept! Okaasan left early and Papa is on a mission, so I wake up by myself! That is very good, Okaasan says so, because it makes me responsible!"
"I agree with your mother." Mama smiled, helping the girl arrange everything back into her backpack and helping to close it for her, while the girl kept talking.
"At school I am learning about shurikens! It is a very difficult topic, but sensei says it is harder in real life because of physics and I worry because only this year I learned to divide!" Mama placed the large backpack over the girl's shoulders, who tilted sideways to see Gillie behind the woman. "Do you know how to divide, Gillie-chan?"
Gillie-chan. The owner of the name frowned. She had only ever been called "Gillie-sama" and "honorable heir". Gillie shook her head, feeling her cheeks burn again with embarrassment, because in fact she did not know how to divide.
"Mmm..." The girl Rin looked away troubled for possibly offending the newcomer, before she gasped and turned at them. "Is there anything I can do for you?!"
"Mm?" Mama raised her brows with surprise.
"Were you heading somewhere? I can help you!" Rin joined her hands together.
"Actually..." Mama looked down at Gillie, who shrugged back at her and nodded. "I was just telling Gillie we should ask for directions. We are supposed to meet the Hokage-"
"The Hokage Tower? I can take you there!" Rin nodded pointing away before realizing. "Oh..." Her cheeks burned red and she looked back embarrasedly. "Did I interrupt you, auntie? Mama says it's very rude when I do that. I apologize!" The girl bowed down.
Auntie? Gillie frowned again. This girl was too rude and not necessarily for the reasons she concerned herself with, Gillie thought.
"Do not worry, Rin. And yes, we were headed that way, but aren't you supposed to be running to take your school test?"
Rin hesitated, before raising her hands with a shrug.
"I'll just have to run faster afterwards. Follow me!" The girl waved her hand and began to skip away. Mama took Gillie's free hand and took again the suitcase she had been carrying for a long time. They had to walk fast to keep up with the sneaky figure that was Rin. By the time they stood in front of the large red building, Mama was panting and Gillie's wrist hurt from being pulled away. "We are here!" The girl Rin opened her hands wide in front of her towards the immense structure, before turning around to see her companions looking uncomfortable. "Oh? Was I going too fast? I'm so-so sorry." The girl said covering her mouth.
"It's okay, Rin." Mama panted, leaning over the red wall of the building. "The important thing is... we are finally here... Right, Gillie?" Gillie went to her Mama and rubbed her arm as if that would ease her, before looking back at Rin with eyes slightly narrowed. "You have been of great help, seriously!" Rin smiled not too sure about it. "Here." Mama continued, taking off one of her bracelets and handing it to the girl. "Where we come from, we are used to thank others with presents. I just wish there was something else I could give you... but this seems more fitting for a girl than it would've for Might Dai."
Rin gaped at the red bracelet handed her way. Gillie could tell she had really been of service without expecting anything in exchange, which wasn't something she would've done herself. Back with their family Gillie only ever obeyed when given candy, and sometimes even when she disobeyed she still received candy.
"Thank you very much! I will always take care of it!" The girl said taking it quickly and putting it on, even if it was too large on her small wrist. "It is so pretty!" Her eyes grew wide as she neared them to her wrist.
"Gillie," Mama made her jolt at the side of her name. "Isn't there something you also have to give our friend Rin?" Gillie frowned at her. "Something you have to give back?" Mama continued and looked down, Gillie did too, to find the book of the girl she was still hugging to her body.
Aw... She didn't want to give it back. Gillie balanced from foot to foot, fighting the pout wanting to make an appearance and looked down to the ground.
"Oh? Do you like to read, Gillie-chan?" Rin asked her, tilting her head a lot so that she came into her view frame. Was she trying to make fun of her? From what Gillie had seen, the girl had many books! And... everything Gillie had ever had had burnt.
"Gillie finds some words easier to read than others, but she likes her books very much." Mama said for her.
"I see..." Rin straightened up, rubbing her chin. "Mmm... I suppose I'm not using that one in class today... Gillie-chan can keep it for now!"
Gillie gasped looking up at Rin.
"Really?!"
"Oh! You finally spoke!" Rin giggled and joined her hands. "You know what? Just keep it! It's yours! Okay?"
"I don't think that's-" Mama began but Rin looked up at the sun in the sky.
"OH NO! MY TEST!" She turned back at them and bowed one last time. "Welcome to Konoha and I hope your meeting with the Hokage goes well! See you around, Gillie-chan!" She spoke too quickly it was almost unintelligible and before any of them could say anything else, Rin was gone. They were left speechless for a whole minute, after which Mama looked down at her with an irked brow.
"You will be returning the book to that girl, Gillie Yubokumin."
Gillie placed her hands and the book behind her back and crossed her fingers.
"Yes, Mama."
Gillie never did.
There was nothing special or worth admiring from the Hokage. He was just another old man like the dozen elders she had been surrounded since she was born. He asked boring questions out of her and then at some point asked her to walk out of the office. Mama complained but the old man said Might Dai would keep her company just right outside the door. Ever since then, Gillie sat outside on the floor, with the familiar man wearing green standing across the hallway from her with his arms crossed. Whether he was awake or not, Gillie couldn't tell as his eyes were hidden beneath the dark bushes that were his eyebrows.
Those were some really thick eyebrows.
In the meantime, Gillie entertained herself toying with her hair... What was that that happened before, anyway?! It had grown like crazy! And then it was back to normal! Had she lost her mind for a moment, being as afraid as she had been when the bad man took her away from Mama, and had she imagined it all? No, otherwise she probably wouldn't be here. And after it was done Mama didn't talk about it, no one mentioned it.
Gillie looked down to her hands, the memory muscles telling her exactly how she had arranged her little hands before it happened. Should she-
No. This wasn't the moment to experiment and to begin with, as powerful as it had felt before like an electric surge coming from the elongating limbs of hair, she was somewhat afraid. She wanted to talk to Mommy about it, but Mommy was taking too long.
Slowly, her eyes raised to the man looking a statue across from her, Gillie leaned sideways and her ear towards the door. She couldn't hear, but in the frame she could feel the silent seal embedded on the door. Still looking at the man, Gillie stuck her tongue out and behind her body did a series of hand signs, and placed a hand on the door. As she had expected, it was a simple silent seal, she leaned back again and listened.
"Yes, she is a Yubo-nin."
"I suppose she wasn't amongst those in the frontier-"
"Our traditions initiate our children at age 5 as members of the Yubo-nin, but that doesn't mean we send them straight away to the war, Hokage-sama. That is were yours and ours differ."
Gillie tried to keep a neutral face, but she wanted to gasp. They were talking about her!
"Does she present the Yubokumin kekkei genkai?"
"She must, that's part of the rite of passage. But it's a trait that has to be trained and well... she wasn't trained on it... And for obvious reasons neither was I... She will either have to come to learn how to use it by herself or it will be lost forever. Having said that, she is naturally talented on genjutsu, of course."
"I see..." There was a silent pause. "There is something more about her, is there not? Our esteemed genin mentioned what he saw."
"I... That was... I..."
Mama, just talk!
"I had never seen her do something like that before... but I always knew she'd be a special one."
"Mm?"
"It is something she must have... inherited from her father."
"A second kekkei genkai?"
"It is not a kekkei- It is... or is it? Um, I suppose, by definition it is, but... there are no such thing as having two kekkei genkai, is it? It is the dominant bloodline the one that... " Mama stopped talking again.
"Who was the father?"
Gillie's ears perked at this, she was no longer hiding the fact that she was eavesdropping. She placed both hands on the door and placed half of her head on it.
"No one special... Just a nobody... A ... gambler from some town I met in my youth. I was on my own as soon as I learned I was expecting and returned under my family's wing... He disappeared." By Mama's voice, Gillie could tell she was ashamed. Gillie too felt shame. "He was no one special."
"And yet you always knew your daughter would be special-" The Hokage sounded suspicious, but she could no longer hear.
"Hey!" Gillie exclaimed, being pulled away from the door, by the collar.
"You're not supposed to be listening to that, young one." Might Dai placed his hands on his hips.
"Isn't a gambler a bad man?" Gillie immediately asked the genin, after being set back again on the floor, who in return irked a brow. "Mama said Papa was a gambler. Was he a bad man?"
Might Dai began to sweat, looking down at her and in the blink of an eye he was kneeling in front of her with a finger up in the air.
"A father is a person who loves and protects their children very much, Gillie."
"But my Papa left before I was born." Gillie analyzed the situation looking to the side. "That means he didn't love me... If he never loved me, then..." He looked back up at the man. "I don't have a Papa?"
Might Dai kept on sweating and jumped back to his previous standing position. He scratched the back of his head looking away.
"Why don't you talk about it with your mother, mm? Yes, I believe she will know more than I ever could." The man raised a thumb at her and winked, but Gillie sighed deeply and hugged her legs, looking away again.
She had never questioned or pondered on the topic, but that was the moment she understood: Gillie didn't have a father.
"Mmm... Mmm...Mmm..." Gillie grunted moving her head from side to side, pointing with her right index the printed word in the open book she carried on her left hand, knowing on the tip of her tongue what it was but unable to saying it.
Mama and her had taken a trip to the park and while the woman sat on a bench Gillie said she wouldn't wander too far away while she searched for a quiet spot to read. The park was filled with loud children who wouldn't let her concentrate. She was only allowed under the promise that she would be nice to kids and try to make friends. Mama said Konoha was their new home and so they needed to start making roots in it.
"Gillie-chan! " She jolted when hearing her name being called and turned around to see in the distance a group of Academy girls, eating together over the grass. She squeezed her eyes when one of the girls stood up and came running towards her. It was the same girl Mama and her had met on their fist day at Konoha, the one with very short hair. "I've been wondering where you could be and (what a coincidence!) I find you here!" Gillie bowed slightly at her.
What was her name again? Maybe her forgetfulness was written clearer on her face than the words on that book.
"Oh, my name was Rin, remember? Rin Nohara."
Gillie nodded.
"Hello." She said.
"Maa... I see you've been busy reading that book!" The Yubokumin girl's eyes fell on the book and opened slightly, remembering who it truly belonged to. Gillie began to sweat. "Hey, will Gillie-chan be attending the Academy?"
"Why do you call me Gillie-chan?"
"Mmm?" Rin leaned her way. "You don't like it?"
Gillie hesitated, before honestly admitting:
"I like it."
"Awesome! Because I also like calling you Gillie-chan! Gillie-chan, Gillie-chan. It only fits!"
Gillie shrugged and then nodded:
"You asked if I'm going to Ninja Academy?"
"Yes!" Rin exclaimed with enthusiastic fists in front of her.
"Then, no."
"Eeeh? Why is that?" She pouted immediately deflating.
"I am already a ninja. See?" Gillie pointed at the red marks on her cheeks.
"Woah! Is that what it means?"
Gillie nodded again.
"Can I have marks too?"
Gillie pursed her lips and looked up to the sky in thought. She had to be nice to the girl or she'd probably take the book away. Gillie shrugged and then nodded.
"Woah! Hold on, hold on-" Rin left running without another word, leaving a curious Gillie behind watching the girl go back to her friends, retrieve a backpack and wave goodbye at them. Rin was back in no time and grabbed her hand, pulling her hand. "Come with me!" The girls sat on a spot under the shade of a three and Rin put her backpack upside down, allowing all her belongings to fall over the grass. Gillie's eyes widened watching all the contents.
"Why do you have too many bandages and bandaids?"
"Mmm?" Gillie would have thought that a ninja student would keep weapons on her bag.
"I said, why do you have too many bandages and bandaids?" She repeated herself. One could never know, perhaps Rin Nohara was half deaf.
"One never knows when one of our friends might have an accident." The girls hugged the bag to herself and grinned wide. "I am always prepared." Gillie stared stoically at her for a moment.
"You are scary." She blurted. "That sounds like a threat."
"EEH?!" Rin threw her hands up to the air, shaking her hands. "Not at all, not at- Oh! Here it is!" Gillie looked down to see what the girl had been looking for and it was a closed-up wooden box. When she opened it, it revealed a color palette. "In our kunoichi lessons, we've been seeing makeup disguise."
"What is... kunoichi?"
"It is like a ninja that is also a girl."
"Oh?" Gillie irked her brow. Then, was she also a kunoichi?
"Some use their female charm and disguise in spying missions, for example." Rin continued explaining.
"Cool." Gillie said leaning towards the pallet, before it was pressed against her.
"Please take care of me!" Rin smiled before bowing quickly, looking entertained.
"What am I supposed to do with this?"
"Oh... I thought you said I could have marks too..." Rin frowned with concern while Gillie finally understood what was it she had to do. "You don't have to do it if you changed your-" Gillie raised a hand to stop her from talking. The Yubo-nin put her hand over her heart.
"These marks are not to be played with, Rin Nohara." She said seriously and Rin bit her lip, toying with her hands, looking like a child being scolded (even though she was basically a child being scolded) and Gillie sighed. "I will choose the color and you have to vow." Rin's face lighted up.
"Vow what exactly?"
"Er..." Gillie scratched the side of her head, before shrugging. "I don't remember what they made me vow, so any vow will do."
"Okay!"
Gillie looked down at the pallet and stuck her finger on the color she fancied the most: purple.
"Rin Nohara, do you vow to...er..." She said with a deep voice raising the finger in the air. "Be Gillie's friend from now," Now she would have something to tell Mama, "in this life and in the next one?"
"I promise!"
"Do you promise to play with her and to be fun to be with?" Gillie liked to play and disliked boring people almost as much as she did explosive people.
"I promise!"
"Also-! And also, to never take back the book you gave her before?"
"I promise!"
"Then, I- um... I... place... the marks." She said awkwardle while working on her face. The purple line came thicker than Gillie have aimed it to be, using her thumb finger, taking the same space the two red lines in Gillie's face occupied. One would have to do, she didn't want to give Rin a total purple face. "I finished."
"Oh, I want to see myself! Do I look fierce like you?!" In fact, she looked as she was, a kid whom another kid had painted on crooked purple marks with her thumb. In the future, Rin would make sure to put them on correctly, but in the meantime she looked anything except fierce. Gillie chuckled.
"Yeah! Totally!" She said having too much fun. She liked Rin. She liked her very very much.
Two years later, Gillie sat on the entrance of their home putting on her shoes to go out when she heard Rin coming into their front step.
"Good afternoon, Airi Okaasan! Can Gillie come out to play?"
Gillie felt a vein popping on her forhead and after her shoes were done, she walked out to see Mama swinging on her chair, taking some fresh air.
"Do try to be back before it's too dark, Rin. Gillie, did you hear me?"
"Yes, Mama." Gillie droned with her hands together behind her back crossing her fingers, while Rin stood next to her with her hands in front of her, her hands still on a pleading position. They bowed once together and left.
"Why do you call Mama as if she's your Mama?" Gillie asked once in the street balancing over a yard, while Rin walked on the sidewalk.
"Um? Does it bother you?"
Gillie shrugged.
"It's custom in the Leaf!" Rin exclaimed. "Not everyone uses it, but we speak to one another like a big family."
"But you're not family." Gillie frowned. "Where I come from, everyone was family. Like, for real!"
"That sounds neat! You must have had many cousins to play with!"
"Mm-hm." Gillie nodded with pride jumping down, before they turned around the street corner. "Plenty- Oh! There is your house!" Gillie pointed away.
"I was very happy when I learned we were in the same district. Your house is very pretty, Gillie-chan! Why, ours isn't a two-story and Okaasan says she and Otousan are still working to pay it. And, you say Airi Okaasan doesn't pay a thing?"
"Uh-huh." Gillie shook her head. "Mama doesn't work."
"That's awesome! How is that possible?"
"Reparations." Gillie said smartly with one finger up in the air. "It is Konoha's fault Mama and I lost our clan, after all." She shrugged as if it was nothing, and in truth, for the seven year old Gillie, none of that had any meaning. In truth, reality hadn't been as simple as that, but she was only glad they got a super big house and Mama could go to the hospital whenever she needed without paying for anything. Rin grew uncomfortable at the mention of this though, and cleared her throat before snapping around.
"Look what I learned to do at the Academy!" She exclaimed before throwing herself in a series of somersaults that Gillie had to follow as to not stay behind in the demonstrations of her abilities. The girls played at the park until the sun set and then a little more. By the time they returned to the Yubokumin household it was too dark and Rin asked Gillie's mother if she could spend the night again. It wasn't uncommon of the girls to have sleepovers.
"Okaasan said I could stay tonight if Airi Okaasan was okay with it. May I stay, please?" Rin asked with her hands joined together and behind her Gillie eagerly nodded at her mother. The woman laying on her bed coughed twice, in the process making the girls grow self-conscious on bothering the woman in her resting space.
"Of course you can, Rin. You are always welcome to stay." The girls looked at one another and beamed, before looking back at the woman.
"Thank you for taking care of me, Airi Okaasan!"
"Have a restful night, Mama." Gillie said giving her mother's hand a squeeze. The girls walked silently out the bedroom and softly closed the sliding door, before making their way running to Gillie's bedroom.
"Woah!" As usual, Rin marveled at the vast bedroom. "So pretty! And you get twice the beds! I mean, they are bunk beds, but... It is as if they knew I would be staying over, eh, Gillie-chan?"
"Mm-hm." Gillie raised her chin.
"May I have the upper one this time? Please, please, please?" Rin joined her hands together. Gillie looked away hiding the delighted smirk on her face, before turning back around and shrugging nonchalantly.
"If you must.
"I must!"
"I am using the bathroom first, though."
"Okay!"
After she was done and it was Rin's turn to clean herself from the sweat and mud from the park, Gillie made herself comfortable in the lower bed, feeling the exhaustion of the day coming over her. In the silence of the room, her eyes traveled towards the door, where at the end of the large hallway Mama rested, as she mostly did these days. Her thoughts traveled towards a place of concern and fear for the future, that she almost missed the sliding door of the bathroom opening.
"Gillie-chan, your jasmine bar-soap is the prettiest carved thing I have ever-" Rin clad in a borrowed kimono said walking out of the bathroom and stopped on her tracks watching the depressed expression on her friend. "Gillie-chan?" She walked towards the darker lower bunk bed and crawled towards her. "Gillie-chan, what is the matter?"
Gilllie kept on hugging her legs, face half-buried in her knees.
"She's not getting any better."
Rin stayed silent for a moment.
"Okaasan says she is doing very good." She offered softly.
"Very good is not better." Gillie said.
"Our mothers do everything they can, Gillie-chan."
"I... know." Gillie stared into the air with a frown on her forehead. "Mama has always been like this, since I remember..."
"Hn."
"But she's worse now... I... don't want to lose Mama, Rin."
Gillie knew Rin wouldn't say anything just to make her feel better if it wasn't true. Rin was honest as she was kind. Perhaps, that's why she liked her very much, as well as her flattery, always authentic in nature.
"You have to be strong, Gillie-chan. Hn?" Gillie looked towards her friend. Her face was now clean, as was Gillie's, but the next morning they would both put on the face paint that marked them as warriors. If anyone deserved the privilege was Rin. Gillie nodded once and her friend grinned widely. "I know what should cheer you up. Should we go tomorrow morning to the town library? Or maybe I should comb your hair? Gillie always likes it when we do those things." Gillie chuckled and laid down, placing her head on Rin's lap.
"Thank you, Rin." Gillie closed her eyes, feeling her anxiety fade away, while her friend softly patted her head.
Gillie frowned up looking at the wooden placard announcing the training grounds. She looked down at the parchment on her hand and made her way to search for training ground number 4. In the distance, she slowly began to decipher the figures of those who would be her sensei and "genin teammates". Gillie sighed deeply, unsure of whether she wanted to do this. At least she hadn't need to go through the Academy like Rin, but with Mama sick the least she was looking forward to do was socialize with people. Besides, Rin was a load, Rin was more than enough.
The people up ahead sensed her upcoming presence and turned around. She took a deep breath and kept a steady gaze on them, analyzing each of them. The largest one, carrying a picnic basket, was clearly Sensei Choza Akimichi. The man was huge with crazy red hair and purple markings on his face.
Face marks, huh?
For the eight year old Gillie that was enough to like him. The same couldn't be said for her teammates: in front of her stood two kids, the one on the left was tiny, perhaps even shorter than Gillie, wore a headband, carried a lollipop in his mouth and a stoic expression on his face if only coming alive by one frowning irked eyebrow. The one on the right was in a green nylon bodysuit with a red bandana around his neck and was fashioning a bowl cut hairstyle.
"Oh?" Gillie frowned to herself. He looked awfully familiar.
"You finally arrive." Sensei said as soon as she was close enough to hear, she joined them and bowed before turning towards her teammates, staring at her.
"You are late." The smallest boy blurted out with raising brows.
"I'm sorry." She said with a grimace and the boy shrugged although looking as if he wanted to say something else.
"Should we begin?" The three kids continued staring at one another for a while. "Guys?" Slowly, they turned towards the man and nodded. "Let's sit down."
"Sit down?!" Gillie squeezed one eye and scowled towards the loud boy in green. "Why, I though this would be our first immersion into the real shinobi life! "
"And we'll get there," The man groaned while sitting over the grass. He motioned a hand and the three children followed his actions. "But it is only protocol to start the session with a little introduction: our likes, our dislikes and a goal we have for the future. I shall start." The man cleared his throat. "As you might already know, my name is Choza Akimichi, I will be your sensei. And you can be certain there will no longer be more changes to this team."
"Huh?" Gillie frowned at his words, but as the man kept talking she decided to ignore it.
"I like our village and its people, and value the universal virtues of loyalty, resilience, discipline and friendship. Mmm... I also like Mama' Akimichi's homemade ramen more than any other food in the world." The man added as an afterthought, grabbing his chin. Then, he continued: "I dislike disloyalty to one's friends, good food left to waste and losing in Shogi. My goal for the future is that in every genin group I lead in my lifetime I am able to promote an environment of friendship, so that everyone moves foreward in life with a solid set of friends." The man chuckled once. "So far, my goal is going well."
To become friends with this two, huh? Gillie looked at the two boys by the corner of her eye. We'll see about that.
The man clapped his hands once and went to begin unpacking the picnic basket.
"Who wants to go next?"
"I will!" The boy in green exclaimed again, making Gillie wince, her eardrums thundering inside her head.
How loud!
"My name is Might Guy, a handsome and proud shinobi of the Leaf with an excellent level of taijutsu-"
Did he really have to call himself handsome? Gillie sweatdropped.
"I like taijutsu and winning against my rival Kakashi Hatake, and I dislike to lose against him. I also dislike bullies and people who bully me for not being able to use ninjutsu or genjutsu-"
Gillie's brows raised becoming a bully herself, inside her mind. They had really placed her on a team with such an incompetent person?
"My goal in life, in the short term, is to become a chunin, in the medium term, is to become a honorable shinobi worthy of respect in the village and make myself a name across the Five Great Shinobi Nations and, in the long term, is to become a legend that demonstrates anyone can become whoever they want to be if they put on effort, having discipline and drive!"
Gillie hesitated. Well, he sounded like an honorable person already, perhaps even more than Gillie considered herself to be... But he was still lame. Maybe she could grow to like him... or pity him. In her mind, it was basically the same thing.
Noticing the gaze of their sensei, the boy in the middle cleared his throat.
"My name is Genma Shiranui... Um... I am 8 years old... Um... I like weapons... I dislike uh... loud people-" He said looking at Might Guy by the corner of his eye. Gillie could agree with that. "And lousy girls." He irked a questioningly brow, before looking by the corner of his eye in the opposite direction towards Gillie, who internally scoffed. "My goal for the future is... to become a strong shinobi like my father."
Now, it was her turn.
"My name is Gillie Yubokumin... I-um... I come from the Yubokumin clan. They are extinct now." She said towards the boys, as if showing off. She brought a finger to her chin. "I like libraries, narutomaki and doing nothing. I dislike... both loud people and arrogant people... My goal for the future is..." She frowned realizing she had none. "My goal for the future is..."
"What is it Gillie?" Sensei asked.
"I don't have a goal for the future, sensei." She hesitated. "But I have a wish." She bargained.
"Let's hear it then."
"I wish Mama will get better and she no longer has to be at the hospital all the time." She said with honesty. The group fell in silence, before Might Guy jumped to his feet.
"Oh, Gillie Yubokumin! I have been misinterpreting you all this time-"
"We've met for five minutes-"
"OH, GILLIE!" The boy said opening his arms wide and noticing his intentions she joined her hands together and her hair launched his way, keeping the distance between her and the boy. His dark tendrils shoot out and hit away with the force of a fist.
"WHAT THE-?" Genma exclaimed jumping further away from her, while Guy fell on his butt after the impact.
Choza Sensei grinned.
"See? This is why this is a special team." He pointed at Guy, who was still panting from the floor and in shock looking from person to person and then back at Gillie openmouthed. The girl shrugged as if saying "You asked for it ", while her hair recoiled back to its natural state. "Taijutsu specialist. Weapons Master. " Sensei pointed at Genma, who watching this phenomena happen lost his lollipop, it failing out from his mouth and to the ground. Finally, sensei pointed at Gillie. "Kekkei genkai holder. I should be testing you to accept you as my genin team, but I am looking forward to work with you three already, so we're skipping the part and get our hands to work. Can you find yourself willing to work with one another?"
The three kids, some still more shocked than others, looked at one another and hesitated.
"I can try, I suppose." Gillie sighed and shrugged.
The girl ran towards the hospital after the news she received when returning from a mission. She reached her mother's usual room, bumping into someone walking out of the door and stumbled backwards looking up at the pale man with dark hair. Gillie frowned up at him, receiving half a scowl in return, before the person walked away in the opposite direction down the hallway. She was too focused on the matter at hand to worry about the person, and instantly forgetting about the incident, she rushed into the room and stood next to her mother's death bed, with a heart menacing to explode inside of her. She also felt she would be sick at any moment.
Mama was pale as a corpse, but at least she was still breathing. Gillie waited for her to wake up, for two days, day and night. Food was brought for her by Rin who also received the news but left her own out of respect. It was the night of the third night when she had inevitably falling asleep, her head resting on the side of the bed, when she woke up with the fingers on her mother caressing her head. She snapped up with her eyes wide.
"Mama!" She gasped sitting up. The woman smiled, before straightening up on the bed as well. "You shouldn't- You shouldn't do that!"
"Don't worry. I am okay." Mama spoke with an ease as if she hadn't just been coming and going out of consciousness the previous days. She turned her body halfway towards her and smiled. "Has Gillie been eating well?"
The distress in Gillie made it seem that their positions were reversed, as if the relaxed and collected woman was healthy and the young girl having a hard time to breathe was the sick one. The tears immediately made act of presence. She hadn't been able to talk to her mother in days and the first thing she asked was if she was eating properly?
"You know stopping eating is the one thing I cannot do." The girl said rubbing her face. "Mama?"
"Hn?" The woman responded, still caressing her daughter's thick and dark hair, eyes lost over it.
"Mama is not... Mama, you are... You won't be leaving me, will you?"
"Mmm... Promise me you will never cut your beautiful hair."
Gillie sobbed and pulled her arm. It was like talking to the wall.
"When have you heard of a Yubokumin cutting their hair?" Gillie exclaimed with her face scrunched up.
"Yuri used to do it all the time."
"Yuri?" Gillie's eyes fluttered and then shook her head. "Mama, you're not listening to me. Mama, I am scared!"
"Promise me, Gillie." Mama said seriously.
"I promise! Now, you answer my question, Mama! Mama?" The girl frowned watching the woman laid back down with a serene smile on her face.
"I'm okay..." The woman said looking up at the ceiling and taking a deep breath before turning back at her. "Gillie... be good to Rin, yes?"
Gillie frowned at her words.
"Rin Nohara. She is a very good friend to you... You need to learn to value the people who love you the most. They will always be there for you. No matter how far away they might seem, whether you can see them or not. Those who you love and love you live through you." Mama reached for her hand. "Konoha is your new home. You must honor it and protect it, always-"
"Mama, stop talking like that." Gillie grimaced. Her mother smiled softly.
"Do not only eat candy, understand? Try to make friends. Keep away from troublemaking boys. Listen to your teachers. Discover what makes your heart happy and do it. Most importantly... don't ever do something that might hurt those who love you and..." Mama touched her nose with a finger. "Always listen to Gillie. Gillie is who you are. And Gillie is good and brave and strong. Gillie is all of those things. Hn?"
Gillie nodded softly, before leaning her head over the bed, looking up at Mama. That night they spoke about many things, but only pretty ones. No eternal questions nor past deeds. Mama was so calm and composed the entire time that right before the girl went to sleep in that same position she thought this could be the turning point, where Mama would finally be okay, she would keep on being this way, she would be healthy from now on.
The next morning, a hand on her shoulder woke the girl up and she looked up to find Rin's mother, in her iryo-nin uniform, looking down at her with a frown.
"Gillie..." the woman told her and the girl could still feel her mother's hand on her hand, but it was no longer gentle. She let go, without turning back one last time, and reached her arms towards Nohara-san. Gillie buried her face on her stomach, while the woman protected her from watching as she took her out the room, but the memory of her mother's touch was still present in her palm.
It was cold.
Gillie placed the flower bouquet over the graveyard, a place she would never ever return to visit, and stood up. She felt someone grabbing her arm and leaning her head on her shoulder. Rin was sobbing heartbreakingly, but Gillie kept a stoic face.
"I have to go, Rin." After a while, Gillie told her, pulling herself free.
"Where are you going, Gillie-chan? Where will you- what are you doing now?" Gillie looked away and Rin followed her gaze, before the girl rubbed her face in one motion and raised her fists. "No!"
"I have to go, Rin."
"No, Gillie-chan!" Rin looked behind herself, where her mother and father stood waiting for her daughter. Her parents gave her a look telling her she had to understand, but Rin was having none of that.
"Gillie has to go back to the orphanage, Rin... They are waiting for her." Rin's mother said with a sad tone. The two girls looked back over Gillie's shoulder, where a yard away a man in white traditional robes waited for the Yubokumin orphan. Gillie looked back at her friend and then lowered her head.
"Goodbye, Rin-" Before she could turn around to leave, Rin Nohara threw her arms around her and kept her captive for a longer time.
"Gillie-chan..." Rin sobbed on her shoulder. "It breaks my heart to see you like this, because... you deserve to cry." Gillie gulped listening to her words and took a deep breath. "Everything is happening so fast... I...You cannot go there... You will not be there-"
"That is where orphans go, Rin."
"Then you won't be an orphan!"
"What are you saying?" Gillie scoffed tired, she was only making things harder.
"I am saying..." Rin muttered, before slowly setting her free and looking at her face. "Let my name be yours... let my house, my family, be yours, Gillie-chan..." Rin said with realization. "Okaasan, Otousan... I promise they will be as yours as they are mine, huh? Would you like that, Gillie-chan? Would you be okay with that?" Gillie stared at her face for a moment and then looked away.
"You cannot promise things that are not up to you to decide, Rin." Gillie then looked back at her and pulled away for good. "Goodbye."
Gillie's arm was pulled into the house by Rin's insistent hold.
"This is where we leave our shoes! Make sure to leave them arranged when you put them on and off going out the house or Mama becomes terribly moody-Oh! This is where she places our family pictures, but these will have to change, don't you think? We need you to be up here-"
"Make yourself comfortable, Gillie. This is your new home, little one." Nohara-san said with a smile, placing a hand on her head before walking towards the dining room, carrying her belongings for her.
"Thank you... Papa." Gillie said blinking repeatedly, weirded out for even using that word. It fell foreign to her lips who had never made use of it.
"Come this way, girls! Someone has been baking for you, Gillie!" The male's voice came from deeper inside the house. Rin pulled from her arm.
"We can go to my bedroom- that is, our new bedroom afterwards! Okaasan is the best baker in the world, you'll have too taste it to believe it!" Gillie was dragged away by her new sister and in the kitchen table they found Gillie's new parents sitting in front of a white frosting cake with a drawn face with red whiskers. No, they were marks, like hers. On the side it read:
Happy 9th Birthday!
Welcome to the family, Gillie Nohara!
"You should blow the candles before we're left with a cake of wax, Gillie!" Her new adoptive mother smiled widely. Everyone held their breath as Gillie, very slowly, made her way behind the cake and, even more slowly, sat down staring at it. She looked up, finding herself surrounded by people filled with happiness because of her presence. She gulped and bowed slightly.
"Thank you for taking care of me." Gillie said hiding the blurriness in her eyes. She squeeze them and straightened up.
"Now, the candles, Gillie-chan! The candles!"
Gillie smiled softly at Rin and blew them off.
It all begins on a day like any other.
Gillie Yubokumin laid on a tree branch staring at the sky, immersed in thoughts of whether her mother was looking down at her too from above, searching for her face in the clouds and answers from the flying birds on why this specific life had chosen her. She wasn't even 10 years old.
After a while, the girl pulled out the book she had taken from the village library and opened the page she had last read. That's when she heard them, the voices of children and a man coming into the training fields. She groaned, because even though this specific tree branch was her favorite to rest at, things became too noisy whenever a genin team walked closer. Gillie, turned upside down on her belly to stare at the group that had interrupted her reading and her brows perked with interest and familiarity at the sight of her roommate and now sister, Rin Nohara...
A/N: And we're back to the beginning. Please, let me know your thoughts on these two past chapters. I am looking forward to go back to the future, now that we know more about Gillie's past. Are you? What was your favorite part these past 2 chapters? What were you most interested to see?
Enjoy!
