~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Glance into the Past~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The leader of Kagayaku was walking down the streets of his village. And right now, Tetsu Yama was not particularly happy. Then again, he couldn't remember the last time he had been happy…for anything. But he didn't care. Life was imperfect, and to be happy about little things was just annoying.

But for him to be called down to the hospital was beyond irritating. For one thing, the hospital was across the village from his office. That was a lot of walking. And another infuriating thing was that no one would freaking tell him what the heck was going on. One moment, he is sitting in his office filling out paperwork, and the next, he is being called down to see some woman who had just given birth.

He didn't really understand what was so important. And he really didn't want to see the aftereffects of the birthing process. He hated children, and especially babies, because they just didn't know when to shut up.

Tetsu finally made it to the hospital, and he barged in, not waiting for anyone to assist him. Frantic nurses, now noticing that their leader was in their midst, ran up to him, telling him of the situation.

"Well, you see Sir, Akarui Kurohoshi just gave birth to a baby girl…" one of the nurses informed.

"Obviously, something else must be going on!" Tetsu yelled. "Just show me where they are."

The nurses nodded their heads and led the Lord down the hallway. When they came to the room, Tetsu threw the door open and stormed inside. A woman with snow white hair was seated on the bed, her shining silver eyes sobbing sadly. A man with hair as dark as night was standing beside his wife. The man was attempting to comfort the woman in the bed, but he still seemed to be distressed about something.

"What is going on? What could possibly be so important that you had to bother me, Yakan?" Tetsu asked the man standing beside the bed.

The man named Yakan slowly walked over and bowed in front of the leader of Kagayaku. "I apologize for the inconvenience, my Lord. But…as you have probably heard, my wife has just given birth…"

"And what else?" Tetsu screamed. "Other than the fact that your kid will be hollering all night every night, what could possibly be the problem?"

"She…well…maybe you should see for yourself…" Yakan said sadly.

He walked over to a small crib, where a small bundle was lying. Tetsu followed and peered inside the bed to see a beautiful baby girl. She had a head full of black hair, just like her father. Since the girl was asleep, her eyes could not be seen. But it was obvious that if she had her mother's silver eyes, she would be ravishing when she was older.

"Okay, what is it I'm supposed to be looking at?" Tetsu snarled, hating having to look at the child. Even if he was staring at the cutest baby in the world, he would have growled.

"She…her wrist…" Yakan stammered. A loud cry could be heard from Akarui, who continued to sob.

Tetsu stared at the baby. He glanced at her left wrist, which seemed fine. He looked over at her other wrist, and then he gawked. A small black circle could be seen on the girl's wrist. Tattooed directly under the palm…was the mark of the Guardian.

Tetsu wheeled around to glare at Akarui. "You gave birth to the Guardian?" She choked out more sobs.

"Please, Lord Tetsu, understand. This is not what we wanted…" Yakan said, pointing at his newborn daughter.

"This is not my problem," Tetsu said. "You have brought a child into this world. The fact that she is the Guardian is your responsibility."

"But…" Yakan glanced at his wife and then his daughter. "We don't want her."

"Excuse me?" Tetsu asked, surprised.

"She is the Guardian…a monster…" Akarui said, stating the first words she had said since she had given birth. "She is the reincarnation of Gekido…I do not want to have anything to do with her."

"She is your daughter," Tetsu reminded. "What do you plan to do with her?"

Yakan and Akarui locked eyes. They nodded their heads at each other, almost as if they were reading each other's minds.

"We were planning to leave the village anyway," Yakan said. "For our jewelry selling business, we were going to travel around the world."

"And the child?" Tetsu asked.

"We had always hoped for a daughter," Yakan said. He turned his stare to his new daughter. And then he glared at the baby. "We did not want a monster."

"I can understand you wanting to leave for your business," Tetsu said. "But you expect me to take care of this…thing?"

"Please understand, Sir Tetsu…my wife and I…we have no desire to raise what will eventually become killer," Yakan said. "We have no interest in Suki anymore."

"You named her?" Tetsu asked. "You named her a word that means 'love'?"

"It was what I had always wanted to name my daughter," Akarui said solemnly. "I instinctively named her that when she was born. But the name means nothing now."

Yakan nodded. "We cannot possibly love a murderer…"

Tetsu nodded his head. Their situation was somewhat understandable. Who would want to raise the Guardian? Years ago, it was an honor. The Guardian was the sacred protector of the shinobi world. But that was before Gekido. That man…filled with rage…he destroyed everything. And the Guardian was now only a figure of danger and fear.

"Alright, so you can proceed with your travels…" the leader said. "And…Suki…will be placed in an orphanage."

"We don't care where she goes," Akarui said. "She is not our daughter anymore."

"Fine," Tetsu said. He turned to the nurses who were still standing inside the room. "Take the child to be taken care of elsewhere. When she is ready to leave the hospital, place her in an orphanage."

A nurse with light green hair nodded her head. "Yes, Lord Tetsu…" she muttered as she grabbed the baby girl. She left the room with Suki to place her in the infantry.

The woman gently placed the baby in a comfortable position in a crib. The green-haired woman stared down sadly at the baby. She was an adorable baby. And it was easy to tell that she would grow up to be beautiful.

But she was the Guardian.

It was a shame, really. To be cursed with what was supposed to be a gift…she was forever marked as a murderer. What was more…she could grow up to never kill a fly, and still, people would hate her. It was their nature. Creatures of habit…everyone had trusted the Guardian, and Gekido had to ruin it. And now humans were going through an era in which no one trusted anyone. And no one would trust the new Guardian.

"And the Guardian was supposed to hold the trust of everyone," the woman said sadly to herself.

She turned to walk away. She hovered by the door and glanced back at the baby in the crib. A baby girl named Suki… a name meaning love. And it was so painfully sad and ironic. Her own parents didn't even love her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~