Chapter 1
Actions = Consequence
It was a nice, peaceful morning for those in the land of wind. The early dawning light seemed to seep over the buildings of Sunagakure with weight making it shine beautifully. Most all was quiet, the people waking and taking in the relaxing aura of such a morning, the bird's chirps soft and drifting on the wind as though they were one. The only disturbance came from the window of a second story apartment.
"Beep Beep Beep!" the alarm clock blared as a hand slid out from under the covers and flailed around the night stand "Beep Beep Beep Chink!" The arm then retreated under the covers leaving no flesh exposed. One could only guess at who might be under the big comforter that was fluffed up like a large ball. Suddenly the blankets flew back to reveal a head full of white messy hair.
She rubbed at her sleepy eyes and then she remembered. Her face lit up, eyes wide with a big, bright smile. Today she would get to train with her sensei. Not with another jounin or even chuunin, but with her own sensei whom she adored. You see, her sensei was very busy lately. He was the best ninja in their entire village and so of course there were many things for him to do. Because of his high standing and lack of time she was often left to work with the other sensei in the village. She didn't like it much. It was too obvious that they didn't want her around, but today would be a good day.
She jumped out of bed and made her way to the bathroom grabbing some of her usual training cloths. The hot water and steam felt nice on her skin but it couldn't wake her anymore than she already was. She nearly skipped out of the shower she was so excited. She dried her hair with a towel and let it fall as it may against her back. Her clothes were her standard silky, black shorts that stopped right above her knees, a loose grey-blue shirt that went down just as far with both sides slit up to the waist for mobility and a scarf-like neck. Last but not least she took her headband and used it to attach her weapons pouch leaving the sand village crest for all to see at her waist. A quick snap of her shuriken holder, zip of the shoes and she was out the door.
'I wonder what he'll teach me today,' she mused as she walked the stairs down from her 2nd floor apartment. Her destination wasn't far. She was to wait for him at the Karamaki restaurant just down the road. She wondered if Haruhi would be helping her father today. Haruhi was the daughter of , the restaurant owner. She wasn't much older than Yui. Just about 5 years or so. Haruhi and Yui were not particularly friends but at least she seemed neutral. In fact it was Haruhi who initially told Yui about her sensei, the Kazekage.
When Yui first came to the sand village it was miserable. People always staring and no one to play with. After a while the stares seemed to fade but the judging and condescending looks remained. They were frightened by her and her kekkeigenkai but as a small child she didn't yet understand. How could she? She was only 8. She simply felt like they hated her. Then one day she noticed another whom they also distanced. He was the Kazekage and they held respect for him of course but everyone kept their distance. He was alone just like she was.
Eventually she met Haruhi Karamaki, the girl who didn't seem to care one way or the other who she was. The girl's father on the other hand seemed to loath her for some reason and would get angry with Haruhi if he saw the two together. Because of this the two generally avoided each other but after Yui noticed Hideki she just had to ask her about him. By the end of hearing the story of how he had been treated like her, due to his mischief, but then rose to be a respected leader she felt inspired. She didn't care to be in charge of the village but she was tired of being helpless. Her desire to fight back was what drove her to become a ninja.
When Yui brushed aside the cloth strips hanging in the doorway a bell chimed and she was greeted with a friendly tone. "Welcome", the man said, turning to see who had entered. His smile dropped and his words turned cold. "Oh it's you", he sneered.
"Ah! Don't talk to customers like that!" Haruhi scolded her father. Yui wondered why she even still tried. They both knew her father would never change. Yui could probably save him from a whole army of enemy ninja and the man would still detest her.
'I don't even care' Yui thought with a smile plastered on her face. 'Today is going to be great.' She found her way to a seat by the window and sat quietly looking out. After a few minutes she shifted position to lay her head down on her arms. A few more minutes and she wondered when he would come. 'He's late', she thought 'Is he not coming?' A quick look through the window confirmed her suspicions.
Yui watched silently as Aiko walked the street to the restaurant. Aiko walked with purpose, her long blond hair trailing behind her. 'Hideki sensei didn't show again' Yui frowned and laid her head back down on her arms. Once again she would be pushed off on others. 'This isn't fair' she thought 'surely there's got to be some way I could help him with his Kazekage duties, so why does he call his cousin to take me instead of letting me help?' Her inner thoughts were cit off when she heard the footsteps in front of her. She lifted her head and tried her best to keep her face blank of emotions. She often wore this mask but today it didn't seem to work.
"Hey" Aiko said with a disappointed look on her face. When Yui didn't reply she continued. "I know you were supposed to see Hideki today and I'm sorry about the switch up." Yui didn't believe her. She just remained silent. "He really wanted to be here but you know how it is", Aiko paused as if remembering an old memory, "He is the Kazekage after all."
The silence seemed to linger until Yui stood and, following Aiko, asked "What are you gonna have me work on today?" Her voice was flat and dull. Today was supposed to be great and yet still so early in the morning it was already ruined. 'I never get to see him anymore. Did I do something wrong?' she wondered.
"I'm not sure but we'll find you something, " Aiko told her and they spent the rest of the walk in silence. The walk wasn't long. In fact they could hear the other genin ahead before they ever saw them. There was laughing, arguing, and even the sound of metal against metal as some of them practiced with weapons. When they turned the corner a girl called out from across the flat sandy field.
"Aiko sensei!", the girl almost sounded desperate "Will you please help me with this?" They looked over to see that the girl was all wrapped up in a wire with a fresh red mark square on her forehead. Obviously the girl had no clue how to use the weapon and Yui thought to herself that if it had been a life or death situation, the girl would only have lowered her chance of survival. Yui too didn't know how to operate it and wondered about joining in the demonstration that was sure to come but instead she made a mental note to learn it later. She wasn't in the mood to be around others and so when Aiko walked off stifling a laugh she didn't bother to follow. Maybe she could see enough from a distance to give it a try later.
As she watched she could feel people staring and did her best to ignore the whispers. It was just another normal day in the sand village for her and she figured it couldn't get any worse. She was wrong.
"Hey look guys it's the mangy mutt from the mist village." Yui recognized the voice and turned to face him. Kohaku stood with two other boys who were both laughing. Yui wanted to knock the smug grin off his face but she recalled all the times Hideki sensei had scolded her for fighting the other genin so she held her tongue. She would just have to bear it.
"You mean the Kazekage's pet", another boy chimed in, "She follows him around every chance she gets." He started laughing. "Hell he's just as much of a freak as she is."
"You don't talk about my sensei like that!" Yui snapped at them. She was furious. Talking about her was one thing, but to bring Hideki into it was another.
"And what are you gonna do about it?" Kohaku taunted, walking closer as his words grew meaner. "You really think he cares about you? About any of us?"
"No. Stop.. You're wrong!" Yui lashed the words at him and as she watched his grin grow so too did her rage. 'Stay calm. Breath. You know he's lying', she thought to herself 'You know Hideki sensei cares. You know he's always on your side...But Hideki sensei is never here. He's always brushing me aside'
As she fought with herself Kohaku only saw that he was really getting to her. Just a little more and maybe she would finally give up on being a shinobi. The proud sand village didn't need mist ninja to back their ranks and she didn't belong here with them. Now was his chance to get rid of her. "You really think he loves you?" his words came out flat and cold. "He doesn't even know how to love. Face it! He doesn't want y-" Yui couldn't let him finish. If he finished his sentence she thought she might lose the last little sliver of her sanity.
At first the boys around him were confused. They didn't understand why he had stopped mid sentence. They hadn't even seen the water move through the air to cover his mouth. The first boy to look around and see Kohaku eyes wide and silenced gasped and stumbled back before running off across the field to fetch Aiko. Kohaku, now having been left along with Yui, was panicking. He thrashed his head left and right, up and down, pawing at the water covering his mouth but to no avail. 'What the.. It won't come off!' Kohaku's eyes were wide when he looked up.
Yui was slumped over staring at the ground. She'd had enough and in that moment she just wanted it to end. Not just the stares and whispers but everything. She was tired of always being alone even as no one would actually leave her alone. She was tired of it and she wanted it to end. She wanted him to die. She struggled, lifting her arms slightly to the side as if they were heavy like lead and the people around them began to gasp and watch in horror as water began to rise. It came from pots and pans, glasses and buckets slowly rising from it's containers to hover in the air around her. The people around them were shocked and scared of what would happen next. A few even ran away and in that moment Kohaku, also gripped by fear, turned and tried to make a run for it. He managed to make one step before the water engulfed him and lifted him off the ground in a large sphere.
"Stop this!", Aiko yelled as she ran to them. Yui heard her but she was far too gone to care. Quickly Aiko pulled two kunai out and threw them at her hands hoping to break the hold but they were easily caught by a stream of water wrapping around Yui like a living arm. "Yui stop! Let him go!" Aiko unsheathed her sword and prepared to attack.
"Not for you!" Yui snapped and lifted her arm toward Aiko. "I'm done listening to you." As commanded, the water rushed at Aiko with force and all she could do to hold her ground was stab her sword deep into the ground and hold on tight. Now while she had Kohaku trapped and Aiko held down she weaved her hand signs smooth and quick, knowing the water wouldn't keep Aiko busy for long. As she stopped on the sign of the tiger she took a deep breath before blowing out the chakra-filled air and sending a torch in the direction of Kohaku in his water prison. The water began to heat up as it swirled around him sending up steam.
'Am I.. gonna die like this?' Kohaku wondered. His fight was over. He could feel his skin starting to burn and as his last bit of air left the world went black. The water assault on Aiko had finally reached an end but instead of giving her another Yui focused everything she had into keeping her flame for as long as possible.
Aiko didn't even try to pull her sword out knowing it would waste time that Kohaku simply didn't have. She took off as fast as she could toward the assaulting genin and readied a kunai for impact. Thunk!
There was another gasp from the onlookers as they took in what had just happened. Aiko saw her kunai stuck in the wall of sand in front of her and knew immediately that her cousin Hikeki had arrived. Yui had been encased in a barrier of sand and that meant her attack was over. Aiko ran to Kohaku just as the Kazekage spoke up. "Enough" His voice was loud and clear, snapping Yui back to her senses and the water lingering in the air and holding Kohaku prisoner dropped to the ground lifeless just as his body was.
As the sand dropped back to the ground Yui looked around her at the damage she had caused. She could see villagers and shinobi alike staring at her and whispering to each other. Some were even hiding from her. She looked up to where her sensei, Hideki, and Aiko were talking. Aiko was obviously pissed. She looked shaken and angrier than ever while she talked to Hideki who never took his eyes off of Yui. It was making her uncomfortable and she knew after what she just did he would be mad at her too. She didn't want to look at him anymore and so she turned to where Kohaku had been. As she watched several medical ninja were doing their best to try to stabilize him. Their hands with a sort of light green glow traced over his chest and neck and down his arms. Every bit of skin to be seen on him was pink and red with burns.
'What have I done?' Yui thought to herself 'He was just another genin like me.'
As her sensei walked up she feared what he might do. He had never yelled at her before but she had also never done something so bad. Sure she would get in a fight or two and he would scold her but this was a new low for her. She had never tried to kill anyone before. She nearly flinched from anticipation when he told her to follow him.
As they walked to the Kazekage office the silence seemed to grow until Hideki finally asked why she did it. She didn't know what to say and so she said nothing at all. There was no way she could tell him the things Kohaku had said about him. It was one thing for the words to come out of his mouth but things like that would never leave her lips.
When they arrived she followed him right past the Kage office to a door with a small hinged slot on the front and locks on the side. "I need you to stay here until everything is sorted", he told her and without hesitation she walked through the door.
Just as he was about to shut and lock the door she spoke her first words to him. "Sensei", she started, staring at the floor "Why is it you were at the training ground? I thought you were busy today." By the end of her questioning she was staring up into his deep blue eyes. 'Was he really just blowing me off?' she wondered.
"I told her I would be late but I finished early", he told her plainly. Then a glint of pain or maybe even regret washed over his face and he added the words "I'm sorry" as he closed the door and latched the lock.
Yui was left confused and alone with her thoughts. 'Sorry for what? What did he mean by that?' Now she felt even worse wondering what he could have been sorry about. She looked around for anything to distract herself. The room was small with a single bed, a small barred window, and a little room with a toilet. She resigned herself to sit on the bed and practice her focus and chakra control. After a few hours she switched over to clones and after a few more someone dropped off a tray of food through the slot. She didn't sleep well and her next day was more of the same boring room except at some point someone had covered the small window from outside. For two days life seemed to stand still as she wasted her time in her tiny cell of a room. 'I wonder what they're saying', she wondered 'What will they do with me?' Just as she finished the thought she heard the lock on the door click and scrape.
She was terrified to know what was going to happen next. Would it be someone there to finish her off? She could only guess that threats were the reason her window had been covered. Or maybe it was someone to take her to Hideki sensei or even to prison. She took a deep breath to calm herself and heard the man as the door opened.
"Let's go", he told her and started walking. She followed reluctantly and felt a bit of ease as he stopped at the door for the Kazekage's office. The man opened the door for her and then closed it behind them and Yui made her way to sit in front of her sensei.
"Yui" Her breath caught in her throat as Hideki said her name "I regret to say that you are being transferred to Konoha"
When he finished Yui's eyes were wide open as her world began to spin.
