A/N: Brace yourself for this one, it's a heavy chapter…! It's all flashback, so sorry if that bothers you, but it is necessary for plot, I promise.

Answer to the question: An elephant!

And the riddle: Glass… :P

Disclaimer! I don't own Naruto or it's characters, only my own OCs.

Horrors of the Past

Mika kicked a stone as she made her way back through the emptying streets of Tanigakure, shopping basket in one hand, crumpled list in the other. Of course, it wasn't like her to willingly volunteer to go out of her way to help out one of her foster families, but this one, she supposed, was different.

This one had adopted her. Initially, she had cursed her bad luck for getting adopted so close to her 18th birthday, her freedom, as she often referred to it. When the orphanage would have no choice but to release her into the world alone, which she had been desperate for.

What made it even more annoying, was that this family had an agenda of their own, of which she was completely aware of, unbeknownst to them. She had overheard them talking one day about the hidden sound village's pressure increasing. Katashi Arato, the hidden valleys chief, had been quick to reassure his wife, Hana, not to fret, for the day would soon arrive where arrangements would be made to secure their village fundings for at least the next generation, through a pre-determined treaty.

A treaty of marriage between his eldest daughter, and a high ranking jounin of Oto, Masaru Obinata. Of course, the family had absolutely no intention of selling off their actual eldest daughter to the hidden sound, hence their plan to adopt had unfolded rather predictably. Oto had no way of telling that Mika was not of biological descent from the hidden valleys chief, just as he had no reason to question it. Her eyes were practically the very same shade of golden topaz as her new mothers, and her striking ebony hair matched Katashi's perfectly.

It was a well thought out plan, for the most part. The only issue being, they hadn't counted on her finding out about the contract so soon, and Mika had no intention of revealing her knowledge until she had figured out an escape of her own.

This was just one more pretend family she had to evade, something she'd been doing all her life.

However, Katashi was a paranoid chief. With seven children of his own, he kept each of them in a strict routine with a daily curfew of no later than 10pm, something Mika abhorred with all of her being. It had taken no more than two weeks for her to feel the pressures of the confinement, and began offering to run their errands such as picking up shopping wherever the opportunity presented itself.

It was on one of these days, she had heard rumours of Akatsuki lingering in the area. Her ears pricked up as the names of suspected members was discussed among a group of gossiping women, one name in particular catching her attention.

'Did you hear, they're saying the Akastuki has another new member?' One gushed in a hushed tone, as though discussing something utterly taboo.

'I did hear, do they know who it is yet?'

'I heard the officials saying someone from Yugakure. A young man, erm, Hidan, I think they called him.'

'Ah yes, I heard that too!' A third woman contributed, sounding pleased with herself. 'A right rotten bunch, that lot. Hope they don't come to this village anytime soon.'

Mika had rolled her eyes as they continued, but she couldn't deny the sinking feeling in her gut at the mention of her old friend, which, she had now decided was an appropriate term for their relationship. She couldn't say it surprised her all that much, more like disappointed her. But then, she hadn't seen him in almost two years. A lot could have happened between then and now.

She wondered absently if she'd ever see him again. Their odd little meetups always seemed to occur at the most unexpected of times.

A quick glance at the village clock tower had her picking up the pace. She'd have to hurry home if she wanted to keep up the pretence she'd been building of more-than-willing-to-please-her-new-family adopted daughter.

Only this time, when she returned, her senses prickled as she detected several unfamiliar chakra signatures from within the house. Opening the door cautiously, she entered, heading straight for the kitchen, ears alert.

As she unpacked the bags silently, Hana appeared in the doorway, a careful expression on her pretty features. And she was pretty, with soft brunette locks curling around her heart-shaped face, Mika had almost been deceived into liking her. She had a sweet, caring sort of smile, one that you might see on your actual mother. But Mika was not stupid, or naïve anymore.

'Mika, dear, there's someone here we'd like you to meet. Won't you change into something more presentable, and come to the living room when you're ready?'

Biting back a scowl, Mika responded politely. 'Sure, give me 5 minutes.'

So, this was how they were going to break it to her. She grit her teeth as she tore through her wardrobe, filled with a colourful array of new and fanciful fashions. Selecting a simple maroon dress with three quarter length sleeves that hung just above her knees, Mika sucked in a breath.

'Might as well get this over with…' She mumbled to herself, heading downstairs.

The voices in the lounge lulled into silence as she entered, eyes scanning the room hurriedly and trying to act oblivious.

Hana rushed forward to pull her in, hands placed comfortingly on her shoulders.

'Mika, dear, this is Lord Orochimaru, leader of the Sound Village, and one of his high jounin from the village, Masaru Obinata.'

'Nice to meet you…' She muttered, taking in their appearances. She knew really she should have been absorbing the details of her supposed future husband, but those fearsome yellow eyes with small, slit-like pupils lined with purple had her almost captivated. Orochimaru must have noticed her staring, his sickly pale skin twisting into a smirk around his lips as he inclined his head towards her.

Yeah, he was freaky. Finally she tore her eyes from him, honey-coloured eyes landing on the forest green irises of Masaru Obinata. Dark brown hair hung out from below a black bandana he wore atop his head, shimmered symbol of Otogakure glinting in the light on his hitai-ate. He had a proud looking stance, legs and shoulders square and hands held behind his back, elbows bent slightly. He looked like a soldier, and the thought made Mika shudder.

'Please, won't you sit?' Masaru gestured to the couch beside where he stood, a warm smile crossing his face, but Mika wasn't buying it.

'What's this about?' She asked, feigning curiosity as she reluctantly perched on the cushion. He sat down after her, along with the others in various seats around the room.

'Oh just some village business for now, we thought the two of you might get along while we discussed the prospects of the future.' Katashi brushed her off, turning his attention to the sound village leader. 'Now, as for the arrangements regarding trade between villages…'

The adults voices droned on, conversing matter-of-factly about various segments of the treaty she knew they were drafting. She found it odd that no one had mentioned her betrothal yet, but knew better than to comment.

Masaru attempted conversation several times, drawing a blank when Mika continually shot him down with singular word answers or vague shrugs of response. His voice was dull and monotone, sounding somewhat rehearsed and robotic to the girl. She had no desire to humour him or her adoptive parents in his conversations, trying her best to shoot him down and listen in on the points the others were making.

The meeting seemed to go on for hours, but when it finally ended and the Sound ninja had left, Hana turned to Mika instantly, a twinkle in her eye.

'So, what did you think of him?'

'Of who? The weirdo with the snake eyes or the robot with the headband?'

'Mika!' The woman hissed, disapprovingly. 'I thought you'd get along with Masaru. He's around your age, and an exceptional shinobi.'

'The only thing that could get along with that guy would be a stick in the mud.' She drawled, hoping Hana would get the point.

'Mikazuki. Do not be rude.' Katashi hushed her, glancing around as though worried someone might overhear. 'Orochimaru and Masaru were very generous in coming to visit us, otherwise the trip to the sound village would have cost valuable time and resources that we do not have.'

'So that's it, huh? Planning to sell me off to some rich village's jounin in return for the wealth and prosperity of your people?'

Mika's new mother looked appalled. 'It's not like that at all, we simply thought that–'

'That we'd get along, yeah, I heard you. Well save it. I heard you two talking about it a few weeks ago. I'm not stupid.'

The adults exchanged silent glances momentarily, before Hana let out a sigh. 'Our village is struggling, what else could we do? It's not like it's the end of the world, he'll be able to provide for you, and you'll live a comfortable life. It's a win-win situation!'

'You think that's what I want out of life? Comfort? How dull do you think I am to settle for some random guy that some random people picked out for me for their own benefit?' She raged, fists clenching at her sides as she paced where they stood in the hallway. 'Well there's no way, no way I'll go through with it. Like hell.'

She pinned them both with her most hateful glare of betrayal, before shoving past the older woman and heading for the stairs.

'Mika!' Hana gripped her elbow as she tried to storm away, but the teenager was seeing red.

'Get the fuck off me!' She swore, swinging her arm back with as much force as she could. Hana was flung backwards, landing with a huff on the floor as Mika rounded on the woman, towering over her.

'Don't you dare touch me. You have no right, NO RIGHT to come anywhere near me. I am not your daughter, I am not your little bargaining chip. And you are NOTHING to me.'

Hurt flashed through Hana's eyes, but Mika barely spared a moment to register the emotion as she spun on her heel and made to leave once again. This time, Katashi came after her.

The chief's grip was much harsher than his wife's, making Mika wince under the pressure. 'How dare you, you insolent brat!' He roared as he shook her. 'What makes you think you have any say in the matter, anyway?'

'What, you think I won't tell them that I'm not your real daughter? That they're being cheated in this whole deal anyway?'

'You wouldn't dare… And even if you did, there's no way they'd believe a child like you. You'd be seen as acting out, we'll explain to them how you've deluded yourself into thinking we don't want you because of this, and are thinking up any excuse you can to pull out.'

Mika hissed as his nails dug into her flesh, baring her teeth as she snarled back with equal ferocity, 'And when they demand a biology test, what will you do then, father?'

Twisting her arm out of his grasp, she leapt backwards out of his reach and ran to her room, slamming the door behind her. The chief had been right behind her, crashing into the door as it swung shut in his face. He bellowed in fury through the wood as Mika scurried around, stuffing things into a bag and attaching her ninja pack to her hip, like a safety blanket.

The man flung himself at the door, baring through it with enough force to splinter the frame. Seeing her half packed bag, he lunged at her.

'Katashi! Stop this!' His wife cried out from behind him, but when Mika dodged his large frame for the second time, Hana realised they were too far gone to reason with.

He growled as he finally caught one of her wrists, yanking on it and throwing her sideways when she retaliated, flinging three kunai in his direction. Two missed, though one grazed his shoulder, which only served to infuriate him further.

'You little bitch!'

Mika cried out as he punched her in the stomach, knocking the wind right out of her. She doubled over, scrabbling for something, anything to hold him back as he rained more attacks down on her. She was vaguely aware of Hana trying to pull him back by the arm, but the black blurring the edges of her vision was becoming distracting.

Finally, in one last ditch effort to defend herself, she held up the last kunai she had brought with her as he charged her again. Plunging it deep into his gut as he landed on her heavily, she physically felt the breath sweep out of him as he heaved, throwing himself backwards.

Hana screamed a little in shock, scrabbling to his side and pressing down on the wound. Mika slumped back against the wall as she watched the scene before her, hoping and praying that he would not get up again. She knew he wouldn't die, the kunai had not implanted deep enough to cause any fatal damage, but what she hadn't accounted for, was the way Hana's movements suddenly slowed as she swayed, body falling limp at his side.

'Hana? Hana, what's wrong?' Katashi coughed blood as he panicked, rolling her onto her back. What he revealed made Mika's blood run cold, her eyes glassing over as she tried to process what she was seeing.

The front of Hana's dress was stained with a mass of thick crimson, stemming from a protruding knife handle embedded in her stomach. Horror flooded Mika's mind as she remembered blindly flinging her first three kunai, not even having considered their targets, had they not met her attacker.

'Hana… No…' The chief's voice broke, shaking with fury and grief as he watched his wife's life slip away before him. He tore the knife from her stomach and pressed his hands onto the wound, whispering to her to survive this, for their children.

It was wrong, so, so wrong. All Mika could do was watch in a helplessly horrified state, traumatised by what she had done. How could she ever come back from this?

And it was then that she knew she had to leave. She had to leave and never look back, because if she didn't, he was going to kill her.

And she was scared. Terrified.

Scrambling to her feet, Mika ran. She ran through the house, out the door and through the empty village streets, she ran until her lungs burned, muscles screaming at her to stop. When she finally did, she was already miles out of the valleys. There was no going back for her now. She needed to hide, from them, and from herself. She wanted to forget, needed to forget.

Because she knew that if she didn't, she would go mad.

A/N: Woah that was kind of a dark chapter for me. Lots of action going on, which I usually suck at. Let me know how I did!

Question of the chapter: How old were the World's Youngest Parents? (Warning – shocking!)

And the riddle: Four men were in a boat on a lake, the boat turns over, and all four men sink to the bottom of the water, yet not a single man gets wet. Why?

Peace out!