A/N: Whaddup? Heh, ain't it great? The weather is cool, winter is coming…or summer for some places. Well, the point is, Christmas is coming too. Yes, nice cool weather…unfortunately where I stay don't welcome the existence of the four seasons, so it's summer all year long. Well, THANK YOU, Mr. Equator.

Anyways, enjoy the chapter. I hope I didn't keep you guys waiting.

*This chapter was specially beta-read by The Sandslash Named Gaara.

**maki= a kind of sushi, or sushi in general. Forgot to mention this in the last chapter.

Chapter 3: The Different One

The day after the refugees from the Wave country arrived at Kirigakure, Yagura, along with fifteen other academy students, received their Kirigakure forehead protector, and thus were finally able to proudly call themselves a part of this outside world - and show off the scars they've received (or none, which applies to Jinpachi and Kushimaru) from the recent bloody feud and were able to scramble their way out of, well, basically hell. Nonetheless, only nine of the new genins were put out on field to start carrying out missions, but Yagura wasn't one of them. His sickly-worried mother made sure to keep him and his casted left arm at home at all times. But what she didn't know was, thanks to all those times of sneaking out of the hospital room unnoticed, Yagura was now adept at escaping.

From what he knew, the other four students who passed but didn't become a genin had a different story. One of them died from a concussion in the hospital before they were even able to know if he or she passed. Another one hanged herself because she couldn't get over the fact that she'd killed her best friend, which little Yagura thought was quite strange to him on why suicide was ever the only solution to anything. The last two chickened out and quitted, leaving this year being the year with the least academy graduates ever in the history of Kirigakure.

The other seven who were yet to be put out in action, which includes Ao and Yagura, were either still injured or passing out from drugs at the hospital.

This little break from everything was totally fine by Yagura, who was enjoying his first ice pop on an oakwood bench in the middle of the lively market street alongside his teacher, whom had been spending the last half an hour describing every flavour the store could offer.

"...and there's also this durian flavoured one that is just awesome! The next time we come we'll buy that, okay?" his sensei said, earning the same reaction Yagura had been giving for the past thirty minutes, which mainly consisted of repetitive absent nods.

"Do you know what a durian is?" Saruki asked, as if he was questioning his intelligence.

"A fruit." Since all the flavours of ice pops were only either fruit or chocolate, Yagura figured that it was a fruit.

"But have you seen one before?" his sensei went on, licking off the last small piece of his cold treat while watching his pupil still indulging in his half eaten one.

Yagura shook his head.

"It's this green prickly thing, this big." Saruki held out his arms, holding an imaginary watermelon. Yagura just stared in awe. "Green?"

"Well, the flesh is yellow and tasty, not to mention also quite smelly." Saruki continued to entertain his half interested pupil as he shot his ice pop stick into the trash can beside the bench. "By the way, since now there are only sixteen of you genins, the Mizukage decided that you won't be getting a three-man team like everyone else."

"Why?"

"Maybe your age makes it hard to move around. Other kids may not like it." His sensei said as he rubbed Yagura's fluffy hair.

"But I can go with Jinpachi and Kushimaru. They won't mind." Yagura suggested as he looked up from his ice pop.

"They already have a team. Besides, students are split into groups according to your abilities. To make it fair." Saruki explained, but Yagura doubted so. This year's academy students, out of all years, were being used as lab rats for the third Mizukage's new graduating system, and to Yagura, nothing about that seemed fair either. Saruki continued to explain that Yagura would be following him around like a little duckling, carrying out simple missions after he healed, which was totally fine to Yagura as long as he wasn't going to see other people fight over half-eaten sushi ever again. Although entertaining, but it was just plain disgusting.

"It's my lowest price! Take it or leave it!"

A gruff and loud voice managed to attract a lot of attention, with Saruki and Yagura being one of them. They looked to the direction of the voice. A fruit seller was waving his obese knife at a woman and a little girl not far away from where Yagura and Saruki sat. Although they were standing under a shade and had their backs facing him, Yagura could recognize the girl. It was the same girl from few days ago with the same orange shirt and purple skirt, a huge contrast in colour, Yagura might mention. She was tugging onto her mother's long skirt with her left hand whilst holding a green flower in her right. She looked on as her mother continued to bargain with the persistent man.

"My fruits are grown in this country, so they are rare. My prices are reasonable!"

"Just ten ryo!" The woman pleaded desperately but he still refused. Another female customer then interrupted the negotiation and discussed with the duo. After displaying a sour face, the man finally agreed on a price. Yagura watched as the customer held out some cash to the fruit seller and placed a hand on the mother's shoulder. As the commotion died down, people resumed their own business. The mother accepted bags of what looks like oranges inside and passed the smallest bag to the little girl beside her. Yagura watched the girl struggled to lift the bag off the ground with her weaker left hand as the two women started to chat.

"Looking at a girl, Yagura?" He stiffened, aghast at his sensei's sudden words. He began to lick his shortly-neglected ice pop that had been melting all over his hand unknowingly to him, ignoring his sensei who chuckled at his pupil's reaction.

"That is what happens when you focus too much attention on a girl." Saruki continued to tease him while wiping off the melted ice pop on Yagura's hand. It was help that Yagura needed perfectly at the right moment since his left hand was currently unavailable. He felt grateful despite his sensei just mocked him.

"I'm never getting married. Ever." Yagura said firmly to Saruki.

"We'll see in twenty years."

Yagura pouted and finished the remaining of his ice pop. There was no way he would marry a girl.

"Yagura!"

He turned towards the direction of the familiar voice, only to find his gaze landing on the nice customer at the fruit stall from before. He couldn't make anything out of the woman due to the shade she was standing under, until she stepped out from it.

To his horror, it was his mother.

"What are you doing here?" she yelled from across the street, her eyes glaring daggers into his. "You're supposed to be at home! Come here, you -"

Yagura immediately leaped over the bench and ran towards the opposite direction, leaving his sensei stunned from the sudden turn of events. He ignored the odd looks from pedestrians as he continued to sprint back to his home. He could tell that his mother was really furious with him by her yells that still lingered behind him despite already being halfway out of the market place. As he ran farther away, his mother's voice started to die down as well.

"I swear to God Yagura, when I…"

Yep, Yagura was definitely never getting married.

After getting grilled on a hot pan by his mother and ultimately being announced grounded, Yagura could only ponder at home for the next few days. Since he was injured his mother could only berate him, which he was still thankful for. He wouldn't want another taste of her spatula on his butt, though it have been a while since she last physically punished him, and it was a year ago for tearing a magazine at a bookstore. However, he was still grateful. At least his mom didn't have bamboo canes that Jinpachi's and Ao's mothers had. Their butts were probably hard, Yagura thought. Their patience, perseverance, and pain tolerance might also be pretty high, since the only form of abuse they've ever received was the kind from mothers and girls.

Yagura didn't feel like himself when he wasn't moving around. Even after being grounded, he continued to train in his spacious backyard where his mother's pretty flowers grew and thrived. His mother might spank him for disturbing the peace in her garden as well, but for now Yagura believed his secret operation was safe. His mother was rarely home, so it would take a while before she realized what was happening in the garden all this while, and how the mysterious slash marks on her mango tree appeared. But he doubted his mother would suspect it was his doing. The slash marks were sloppy and shallow because he had to train with only his right hand, which wasn't his usual dominant arm. Gradually his slashes and aiming improved, but still weren't as skilled as his left hand. On the bright side, his mother would only suspect a cat was the perpetrator of the scratch marks. His mother wasn't a shinobi, but she knew how a kunai mark looks like, which makes her more than just a mother.

For now Yagura was sitting on his bed, staring off into space. He just couldn't wait to remove the bulky cast from his arm. That would lead to a lot of his privileges returned. He would be able to carry out missions with Saruki-sensei and for once, exit his house. He was eager to learn the new water technique his sensei promised to teach him after he heals. Yagura looked at his cast, then to his shoulder. He moved his left shoulder a little. The pain that was originally there was gone. A smile broke onto his face. He went on to squeeze his left shoulder with his right hand. No pain was felt. As he continued to move his shoulders around, excitement and curiosity started to overwhelm him. He reached into his pocket to take out the dagger with the intention of tearing open the cast and breaking his arm free.

Then he realized…

"Moooom!" he galloped down the stairs and into the kitchen. His mom was slicing a fresh batch of salmon when her son interrupted her. She looked at him, with the edge of the knife still resting on top of a salmon waiting to be cut up.

"Did you see my dagger?"

"What dagger?" his mother averted her focus back to the fish on the chopping block.

"The dagger! I was holding it when the exam ended." Yagura searched around the kitchen with his single abled arm.

"Yagura, that was almost two weeks ago. They might have cleared it up already."

"But it was in my hand!" Yagura tries to assure himself that his first precious gift is somewhere in the house or still at the exam ground, not in a garbage dump under the sea.

"Honey, it's just a knife. Your sensei can give you another one I'm sure."

"But it saved my life!" Yagura cried.

"You can look for it later. Sit down. Dinner is almost ready." His mother said nonchalantly without even looking up from her sliced fish. Yagura pouted and plopped down on the chair. Losing his first gift is certainly not helping his mood. His father had never given him anything, in fact he was almost never at home. Wherever he worked didn't have little souvenir shops, according to his father one day when he returned for a one-day rest. But he did say that there were many colourful fishes in the sea, which made Yagura think that he was a fisherman. He only found out his father was a real shinobi patrolling at the border of Water country and Fire country when he was six. Yagura seldom got to spend time with him, let alone know much about him. The only thing he remembered clearly about his father was the huge black mole on his chin.

"Where is dad?" He found himself asking no one in particular as he ran his fingers along the stitched scar. His mother answered him anyways.

"He's still at his post." Her voice did quiver a bit. Yagura figured out that his mother must have missed his father just as much, or maybe even more than he did.

"But dad hasn't been back for more than a year." Yagura said as if the worst had happened to his father. "He usually comes back every half a year."

"I know." His mother placed a plate of salmon fried rice in front of him. "He's just busy with the war going on now. Maybe you should write to him."

"Yeah I will." Yagura agreed, still taking pleasures in touching the uneven surface on his left cheek.

"And remember the lady at the market I spoke to few days ago?" she asked.

"The one with the girl?" He picked up the pair of chopsticks on his right and began digging in.

"Yeah. They are coming over this weekend."

Yagura almost dropped his chopsticks, not by the news, but by his inability to control the motion of the chopsticks with his right hand. "Why?"

"For dinner. Is that a problem?" she looked at him as she drank her miso soup.

Yagura put down his chopsticks. "No. Not really." He said frankly.

"You are grounded, remember?"

"I know." Yagura said as he stroked his scar on his face again. The girl that Jinpachi, Ameyuri and Saruki-sensei had been teasing him about will actually be coming to his house for a casual dinner with who knows who else. They rarely had guests, so Yagura was quite sure it was going to be an uncomfortable situation, or even awkward if the girl starts staring at him. He didn't really know what to make out of the girl, but he had the impression that she wouldn't beat him like how Ameyuri did to Jinpachi and Kushimaru. She seemed nice and shy, for now at least.

"Yagura," interrupted his mother from across the dining table.

"Hm?"

"Stop touching your face." She reminded plainly. Yagura withdrew his hand. He continued to finish his favourite dish as he struggled to hold the chopsticks up right.

At least women cook good, Yagura thought.

Sure enough, they came. That day was the first time Yagura had seen his mother terribly busy over tidying up the house, throwing away dishes that were cracked or unpresentable (Yagura managed to help himself to some of the wasted good food before his mother threw it away), and set the table in such a formal way as if they were welcoming the king. Although Yagura was a bit uncomfortable about having guests in their house for the first time especially when he wasn't in his best condition, he could tell his mother was feeling ten times more of what he felt. But they were only refugees, and they've only known each other for a few days so Yagura couldn't really understand why his mother was making such a big fuss over a small visit and was doing it with alacrity. What's with the squeaky clean wall? What's with the wasted food? The clean wall he can tolerate, but the food? At least give them to sharks so they won't starve.

When the doorbell rang, Yagura couldn't hide anymore. He answered the door and met with the expected two – and some unexpected remaining family members. They were a family of four. Not to curse anyone but Yagura thought that the girl and her mother were all that was left in her family. When they first arrive the girl was only seen clutching onto her mother's shirt and avoiding everyone else, so he assumed everyone else they knew were sacrificed in the warzone.

"You must be Yagura." The mother said smiling at him, which made Yagura felt a lot better about that night. Then a rock of painful realization hit him, reminding him that she only knew his name because it was being yelled across the market at him that day. Despite that, he let them in with no intention of running away.

The same girl took a seat on the couch next to an older one that looked similar to her. They started bickering among themselves as their parents greeted Yagura's mother.

"She's the woman who paid for my fruits." The woman introduced her husband to Yagura's mother and just couldn't stop extolling her. Yagura's mother seemed way too happy about it.

For the first time in his life, he felt genuinely lonely. Everyone else were chatting and laughing among themselves after dinner. Yagura could only sit there and watch impassively. He had never felt this left out even when he hung around with older kids. Here he was just invincible. He had such a strong urge to disappear back up to his room since no one would notice him anyways but he didn't dare to move. Now he could only sit at and listen as the couple complimented his mother's cooking endlessly and exchanged horrifying stories.

"It was horrible. The Konoha shinobi even killed civilians, so we had to hide under the floor board in our house when they invaded. They killed our neighbour right in front of us."

"Oh my…but at least you guys are okay as whole family, you know." His mother comforted.

The couple exchanged looks. The husband took a breath before going on. "Actually, we lost our eldest son."

His mother's mouth gaped open. "Oh…I'm sorry…but…" she trailed off, unable to find the right words.

"He didn't make it back to our house in time." Tears started to well up in the woman's eyes as her daughters just stared at her. "They killed him above our floor board when he wanted to retaliate. There was blood everywhere… Mira, thank god this place is safer and less violent."

Yagura rolled his eyes inwardly. Less violent? Wait until his mother tells them about what happened to his face and arm.

"Let's not talk about us." The woman wiped off her tears and changed the subject. "So Mira, where's your husband?"

"Oh, he's patrolling at the border. You know, with the war going on. We haven't actually heard from him for a year now." She said uneasily. "But he'll be fine. My son is writing to him."

In just a blink of an eye Yagura felt an imaginary spotlight shone above him as everyone in the room averted their gazes onto him. He sank into his chair. The man smiled at him, assuring Yagura that he wasn't going to eat him.

"What happened to his face and arm?" the man asked his mother.

"It's a long story. I'll tell you another day." His mother grinned unusually wide at them as if she was the one who abused him. Yagura grinned back, just to give a sign that she didn't, although she occasionally used to. He was a little disappointed that his mother didn't tell them exactly what happened. It's not that Yagura wanted to scare them off, but it's just a topic that would put him in the center of attention even for just a while.

Yagura continued to fiddle with his cup as the adults carried on with the small talk. From the corner of his eyes, he could tell that the two sisters were looking at him. As seconds passed it was making him feel more uncomfortable. He looked up at them. They immediately turn their eyes away from him to each other. They giggled.

That just gave Yagura another reason to escape the room.

He looked at his mother, then at the girls. They all seemed to be distracted by something else, just enough for him to slip out of the dining room. Once he was out of their sight, he ran on the ball of his foot, his heart thumping heavily with anxiousness that his mother would call him back into the room again. When he reached the garden successfully, he beamed to himself. He pulled out a pouch containing ninja tools from under the garden bench. One by one he picked up a kunai and began throwing it at his mother's mango tree. It was a big risk he was taking, damaging his mother's tree while she was still at home. But distracted. That was all it mattered.

It was only seven in the evening. Yagura wanted to use all the remaining time he had before the sky turned dark, but he didn't have much time left. He walked towards the tree and pinned a dry leaf onto it. All the training with his right arm for the past few days will come down to this, he thought as he took a few steps back. He lifted the kunai in his right arm and aimed the tip at the leaf. Then the kunai flew.

It hit right on the bullseye.

If Yagura forgot that there were guests in the house he would've celebrated way too loud. He was overjoyed that he finally mastered kunai-throwing on both hands. He could bet that even Saruki-sensei couldn't do it. In the midst of his celebration, the presence of the two girls caught him off guard.

They stared at him.

Yagura felt his face flush with red. The way he celebrated was rather humiliating. He was doing his little foot shuffle around the floor like he always did whenever he achieved something. To have two girls witness it was pretty embarrassing, considering the way they were looking at him from before. Yagura was about to run back inside when the elder sister spoke up.

"Cool!" she exclaimed and ran towards the tree. She examined the kunai way too long before turning back to Yagura. "You're a shinobi?"

"Uh huh." Yagura said with uncertainty, a little taken aback by her sudden gesture. The younger sister walked up to the tree and glanced at it for only a second before pulling out the kunai. The sisters began fiddling with the kunai as if it was the only interesting object around. Yagura sighed and sat on the floor. Left out again.

The younger girl looked at him and walked towards where he sat. "You're the same boy from last week, right?"

Yagura just nodded. Of course he was. He doubted there was another boy who had a cast on his left arm and a stitched scar running from below his eye.

"What is that on your face? You looked like a doll." she asked as her elder sister sat on the floor next to her. Yagura touched the stitches. He realized that the girl's words were in past tense, which meant it was his stitched scar she was staring at that day. He was quite grateful though. He didn't want to have some obsessed girl following him around for the next few years.

"It's a scar." he said, still stroking it.

"What about your arm?" the elder sister asked.

"Umm, it's actually my shoulder, but it still affects my arm."

"What happened to it? Did your mom abuse you?"

"No! It's… uh, I was injured in an exam."

Both sisters cocked their heads to the side. The elder one pointed to his face. "Did you get that from the exam too?"

"Yeah."

"This place is just as violent as the warzone." the elder sister told the younger one, but her sister seemed to be glancing at Yagura's arm cast. He looked at the elder sister in confusion but she just shrugged.

"Can I look at it?" asked the younger girl unexpectedly. Yagura looked at her wide-eyed, but let her anyways. He didn't know what she was going to do to him, but the elder girl knew.

"Reiko, are you sure?"

"Why not?"

"Dad is so going to kill you." she said as Reiko gently prodded his shoulder. Yagura flinched a little. She apologized. Yagura was still confused with her actions until she emitted a red coloured chakra on her palms. She gently placed her hands on his shoulder. Initially he felt a cooling sensation swimming above his skin until his shoulder bones jerked against each other. He felt it moving around slowly yet aggressively, but he felt no pain. He felt himself rejuvenating as seconds passed. Finally, she withdrew her hands. "Feeling better?"

Yagura nodded. Reiko turned to her sister. "Don't tell dad."

"I won't." she uttered softly. Yagura had a feeling she was going to betray her sister but there was honesty in her eyes. He didn't quite understand why such a helpful healing technique was forbidden by their father, but that was the least of his concerns now. The only thing he was thinking about was how he will finally be able to go on missions like everyone else. But for now, he had someone to thank.

"Thanks." he muttered under his breath. Reiko grinned at him. She reached her index finger out to his cheek but before she could touch it, he pulled away. The sisters stared at him confused.

"I just wanted to heal it."

"I know…but I don't want it to."

Reiko raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"I like touching it." Yagura said frankly. They giggled. It was a first to Yagura. These girls were actually not scary.

"Akiyo? Reiko?" their mother poked her head into the garden and spotted the three kids. "Oh there you are." The three kids remained seated as the other two adults came into the garden. Their mother seemed fascinated by the flora growing abundantly in the garden. As the two women chattered about the plants and flowers Yagura's mother had grown, the sisters' father grew transparent beside the women's vivaciousness. Yagura couldn't help but snickered. Now it was the man's turn to feel lonely.

"Yagura." His mother called out. The three kids looked towards her direction.

"What is this?" his mother stepped aside, revealing her precious mango tree bark scarred and blemished. She glared at him as he tries to smile innocently.

P.S. Free you must, check out my cousin's fic, Snowflakes in the Wind by The Sandslash Named Gaara! The climax doesn't start until the later chapters, but the first few are worth the read! And also credits to the same cousin for reminding me to continue writing fanfiction.

Betareader's note: (Haha, that's me! Well, enjoy! ~The Sandslash Named Gaara