DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto, any characters affiliated, any ideas affiliated, blahblahblahblahblah...I just want to post!
A/N: My internet at home is still dead, and the school tried to foil me by bringing classes into the library. But they have all failed! There is no class today! I win! I post, now...
Ezu fiddled with her hair again, trying to figure out where to begin, then after a moment, she explained their situation.
"Ok...it was maybe...three months ago? Is that right?"
"Mm-hm. Totally. Right after, like, Sumoggu's 18th birthday."
Sumoggu had finally come of age. Finally he was eighteen. Finally he could leave home and not be followed.
Finally he could start his clan.
Sumoggu was an unofficial ninja. His village and family were both poor, so only a few chosen people could go to a main village for ninja training; the rest had to stay home and work. So while Sumoggu's cousin got to attend Konoha's Academy, Sumoggu was stuck doing farm chores. However, after much persuasion, the cousin had taught Sumoggu basic ninja techniques in secret. Now that he had come of age, Sumoggu could leave and become strong, without any stupid farm chores to slow him down.
And he had the people to start the clan with.
Suizuka Ezu and Emi, double cousins with prime ninja abilities. Their mothers had been twins, both with a recessive bloodline limit ability. Their fathers had been brothers, both with ninja training, but both had chosen the way of peace, for some reason. Their mothers may not have had a useable ability, but the girls certainly did. Their water-based bloodline limit gave the user a better affinity to using and creating water. Emi's father had a chakra affinity to fire, so Emi could use scalding water in her jutsus. Ezu's father had a chakra affinity to wind, so Ezu's jutsus were based primarily around ice. And both of them owed him a favour. A large favour.
"Why did you owe him a favour?" Pooriin asked, confused.
"For half a year, he had helped out at Emi and my family's farm," Ezu explained, "He wouldn't accept any pay for the whole time. We thought he was being nice, but he's far from it."
"Right after his birthday, he came straight to our house," Emi added.
"You owe me," Sumoggu growled in a rough voice, "Either you follow me for six months, or I tear apart your little farm."
"You wouldn't dare," Ezu sneered, and Emi made an 'up yours' action with her arms.
Sumoggu looked the girls up and down, then turned on his heel and walked away. The cousins thought that he would not come back.
"But he did, huh?" Pooriin guessed, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah," Emi nodded angrily, "He killed our four goats and set the horses loose in one day."
"The real problem, though, was that he poisoned the family dog," Ezu added in a choked voice, "He threatened to do the same to our parents, so we had to go with him."
"I hate that guy," Emi growled, "He wouldn't even let us say goodbye to our parents properly; we could only leave a note."
"So, just three days after Sumoggu's birthday, we set out to a nearby village to pick up his friend, Kishimu."
The afternoon after leaving the sea-side village, Sumoggu could feel that someone was following his small band, but he continued down the road as if he didn't.
No matter, the tall boy thought, Whoever it is, they're harmless enough.
Ruko, I'm so sorry, Ezu thought miserably, I didn't mean to leave like this.
I swear...Ezu-nee had better not be thinking about that Ruko guy, Emi thought, watching her cousin drag her feet, He totally creeps me out...
Just then, all three teens heard a girl weeping, somewhere off the road. Ezu snapped out of her thoughts, and instinctively hurried off the dirt road, towards the noise's source.
"Get back here!" Sumoggu snapped, but Ezu was already lost in the trees.
"Um...wait up, nee-chan!" Emi called, following her cousin hurriedly.
Sumoggu glared at their retreating backs, then hurried after the two 16-year-old girls before he lost them completely.
Ezu soon found the one who was crying; she motioned for her companions to stay quiet when they caught up to her. At the foot of one tree, partly hidden behind a bush, a small girl with white clothes and green hair was huddled, trying to stifle sobs.
"THAT WAS ME!" Monoka exclaimed cheerily, then winced and yelped, "Itai!" yet again, when she was hit by another one of Kishimu's training kunai.
"Shut up!" Kishimu ordered, looking at the 10-year-old freezingly before turning back to Sumoggu.
"Can any of you say 'shounen-ai'?" Tsume whispered to the group, jerking her thumb towards the two leaders; Monoka smiled at the 17-year-old falconer gratefully.
"Yeah, anyway, that was the beeyewtiful day that we met Monoka-chan," Emi grinned, pinching the girl's cheek none-too-gently.
"Monoka had run away from home, and she needed a place or some people to stay with," Ezu said, continuing with her narrative, "At first, Sumoggu didn't want her to come with us."
"No way in bloody hell," Sumoggu protested coldly.
"She needs someone to take care of her!" Ezu exclaimed, "Look at her! She isn't even old enough to get a proper job!"
"Oh, boo friggiddy hoo," Sumoggu sneered, "I don't friggin' care!"
"Why'd you, like, run anyway?" Emi asked curiously.
"Because..." Monoka's voice trailed off and she looked away.
"...It's all cool; you can tell us," Emi encouraged, "We're, like, you know...the good guys!"
Ezu examined the girl for a moment before asking:
"A bloodline limit? Is that it?"
Monoka looked up, stunned, and nodded vigorously.
"How...how did you...?" she stuttered, surprised.
"Our moms told us about that before, how some villages are afraid of bloodline limits," Ezu explained.
"We've got some pretty cool bloodthingies, too," Emi added proudly, "I can create boiling water, and Ezu can make ice. What's yours do?"
"Ano...this," Monoka held a hand out and demonstrated.
Even Sumoggu was interested now; the green-haired girl held a single grain of uncooked rice in the palm of her hand. As they all watched, the rice multiplied, and somehow cooked itself, so that it became an entire rice ball, perfectly fitting in Monoka's hand.
"...Cool," Emi nodded after a second.
"My village didn't think so," Monoka mumbled, "When I get angry, I accidently make dangerous onigiri."
"Dangerous?" Sumoggu snorted, "What, like poisonous?"
"No...The riceball explodes and irritates the person's skin, or it's hard and I throw it at a person like a stone, or the rice becomes a paste," Monoka explained, her lip quivering, "I didn't mean to..."
"We know," Ezu assured, smoothing the girl's hair, "We know it was a mistake."
"...Take her with us," Sumoggu said after a thoughtful moment.
"Huh?" Emi asked, in a most intelligent manner.
"She can come with us," Sumoggu said, already walking back towards the road, "Now hurry up!"
I could use some onigiri right now...
The next day, at around noon, the group reached Kishimu's village. Sumoggu had already contacted the genjutsu-user, apparently. Kishimu was waiting at the village gates, completely ready to leave, with a teenaged girl standing beside him, a falcon perched on her shoulder.
"Nice to see you again, Sumoggu," Kishimu greeted, a slight smirk on his face.
"Kishimu, my old friend," Sumoggu nodded, "Who is this?"
"Senpuu Tsume," the girl answered for herself, barely nodding, "And my companion, Kageno."
"I mentioned the idea of our clan to her, and she eagerly offered to join," Kishimu said airily, "I know she can fight well, so of course I let her come."
"And Tsume can! She really can!" Monoka jumped in eagerly, before remembering herself and glancing at the two leaders, hoping they wouldn't throw anything at her. Which, thankfully, they didn't.
"Tsume and Kageno are totally our best taijutsu users," Emi grinned.
"But Ezu's the best ninjutsu user, Ruko's the best tactician, Monoka's our kawaii cook, and Emi's the best...um...she's good at haggling," Tsume finished lamely, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.
"Oh, thanks," Emi glared playfully, punching her friend's leg.
Hinata smiled shyly, and Pooriin laughed right out.
"But if you're all so good, why not leave this clan?" Pooriin asked after a moment.
"Matters of honour," Ezu shrugged, "If we leave, Sumoggu would come find us, and either kill our family, make us rejoin for a longer time, or both."
"They haven't, you know, like, killed anybody," Emi added, "Yet. So long as we're around them, we can, like, stop them, right?"
"Mine is a matter of honour too," Tsume sighed, frustrated, "Kishimu rescued my baby brother from drowning in a river, once. Since my brother's still little, I'm taking his place in paying Kishimu back. ...before I swore my oath, Kishimu had been kind. I was foolish; it had all been an act."
"But what about Ruko?" Hinata asked softly.
"Love story!" Monoka whispered secretively, giggling.
"Oh, please," Ezu rolled her eyes.
"Fine. I'll tell them, nee-chan," Emi grinned.
"Another freak," Sumoggu sighed, "At least we have a good start for a proper clan."
"True. We have...seven people now," Kishimu observed, looking the group over.
"...seven?" Sumoggu exclaimed, completely thrown off.
Sumoggu looked over his shoulder and examined the crowd he had brought. There were the three girls he had brought, and...
"Ruko-kun," Ezu breathed, almost silently, and Emi blinked.
"STALKER!" Emi yelled, pointing accusingly at the boy in the brown coat.
"What're you doing here?" Sumoggu and Ezu chorused, though Sumoggu's tone was angrier. Much angrier.
"He didn't come with you?" Kishimu asked, surprised.
"Some leader," Tsume smirked, and the falcon clacked its beak as if laughing.
"Let me join," Ruko said calmly, "I can fight, and seven is a lucky number."
Sumoggu struggled with speaking for a while; he was so angry, his tongue was tied and his face was turning purple.
"Don't like him, huh?" Tsume grinned, earning a kick in the shin from Kishimu.
"Still, he makes a good point," Kishimu pointed out, "Seven is lucky, and one more able-bodied fighter would be useful."
"FINE! FINE! I DON'T CARE, LET'S JUST LEAVE!" Sumoggu yelled, already stomping away.
"Well-tempered boy, isn't he?" Tsume said ironically, winking broadly at the rest of the new-found clan. Immediately, Kishimu realised just what a handful this group would be.
Monoka collected the bowls that both hostages had now emptied, and set them aside to clean later.
"Sounded like a fun way to get your group together," Pooriin said thoughtfully.
"Depends," Ezu shrugged.
"It'd be better without the two turds we call leaders," Tsume added.
Pooriin smiled, but Hinata glanced fearfully at the two 18-year-olds on the other side of the ice dome. Fortunately, neither seemed to have noticed anything amiss.
"Ano...why did they make a clan in the first place?" Hinata asked quietly.
"Ah. Sumoggu and Kishimu's greatest dream," Tsume snorted.
"What do you mean?" Pooriin asked.
"They want to find a legend," Tsume answered, stroking Kageno's feathers in an annoyed fashion.
"The 'Gorgon'," Ezu explained, seeing the girls' blank looks, "A girl who, in a fit of rage, can see the weakness and flaw in any battle circumstance. The perfect killing machine."
"She can see any weakness that a person has, whether physically, emotionally, or, like, mentally," Emi added, running her hand through her shoulder-length hair absently.
"As in reading minds?" Pooriin asked.
"No, just the weakness and how to attack it," Emi answered, shaking her head, "And only when she's really mad. And I mean really mad; her pupils will contract until her eyes turn black and they won't reflect light anymore. And that weakness-finding ability kicks immediately whenever she looks at anything. The Gorgon has to destroy or kill; it can't stop itself."
"That's scary," Pooriin quailed, and Hinata nodded in agreement.
"The Gorgon can be anybody. She sometimes has a bloodline limit, and she always has tan skin, long black hair, a flat nose, and dark brown eyes when she's normal," Monoka explained, "And Sumoggu thinks we found her in your group."
"...Michi-chan," Hinata gasped, realization dawning on her.
"No way!" Pooriin protested, "She's going to be a medical ninja!"
"The Gorgon and the girl can be complete personality opposites," Ezu said, not looking at the hostages, "For a while, we thought it was you."
"But then your friend got mad," Monoka said, shaking a little, "And she became fire; fire's my biggest fear. Somehow she knew."
Hinata stared at the girls, stunned, and Pooriin took a moment to muster the courage to ask her next question.
"What are you going to do with her?" Pooriin asked hoarsely, and she cleared her throat before continuing, "If Michiko really is the Gorgon, what're you going to do?"
"I'm not sure what they're thinking," Tsume said quietly, "But Sumoggu and Kishimu probably would want to use the Gorgon's ability. For their own goals, regardless of the consequences."
Pooriin and Hinata looked at each other, before looking down at the floor. They might lose their friend very, very soon.
"Girls," Sumoggu called to them, and all six on the other side of the shelter looked up, "Tie the hostages up again. That's enough freedom."
A/N: Everybody give Mokona a hug! (glomps Mokona)
Itachi: ...idiot.
Deniizu: How is her hair green?
Mokona: I was born that way!
Deniizu: Cool!
Itachi: ...
Michiko: I wonder how I'd look with blue hair...
A/N: ...Ok, no. You're not getting blue hair in this fic, or any others.
Michiko: Aw...
Itachi: Just let the readers review!
Mokona: Wait, you have to say 'please'. (turns to reader) Review, please!