"Come on Haruo, you need to practice you're shuriken throwing".

My brother groaned loudly, as our mother called from our small hut of a house. It wasn't glorious, but liveable with a stove, sitting area and two bedrooms. But back to the situation at hand, Haruo just spent two hours honing his wind reading skills, but he had to learn how to cope with the side effects in a battle situation.

Haruo wasn't a natural fighter, he didn't like confrontation and he certainly didn't like causing pain to others. Not that I'm saying he's weak or anything, in fact in my eyes he is the most strongest person I know. Mentally, he's brilliant but brains get you nowhere in Yamakure.

I was happily watching him, and playing with a stuff doll mother made for me.

My mother popped her head out of our hut, her blonde and black hair shaped her beautiful face perfectly and her vibrant green eyes sparkled "Haruo?"

Haruo picked up his shuriken and stared at it miserably "ácennicge (mother) I'm unless at this! So why do I even bother trying?!"

Mother didn't say anything, at least not a first. Because another voice was thrown into the mix, "now, now young Haruo, impatience is a device that can lead to selfishness". I turned to see two older men in very expensive looking cream robes, both were grinning in some sort of fake pleasant notion.

It seems my mother picked up on this straight away, "I am just as loyal to our lady's guidance as you are Sadao, but I ask you not to be too harsh on my son… he's going through a lot of strain right now."

Sadao and the other man walked towards my brother and me, "ah mastering your pipe rædung (wind reading), well I'm sure you will get the hang of it." The other man stared at me "isn't the girl due to start her training as well?" he asked.

My mother walked towards them with a stony expression, "she has one more month, and then she will begin her training like the others."

"Yes" spoke the man "but if she is what the scriptures say…"

"Enough!" my mother cut in harshly "scriptures or not she is my daughter, and even if she is the one you are claiming she is Yori, I will not push her into something I know she isn't ready for!"

"What are you talking about ácennicge?" Haruo asked running over to her.

Mother looked down and smiled "nothing important love, the councilmen are just enquiring when your sister comes of age."

"For wind reading?"

"yes my son."

Whilst they were having their conversation, my attention turned to the shuriken that my brother had dropped on floor. Slowly I picked it up and examined it with a smile "Pretty…"

I then noticed a practice log with a target on it, it just next to where my mother, brother and council members were having a discussion. Standing up, boredom and curiosity of my capacity got the better of me. With as much force as I could muster, and threw the shuriken at my target, where I made I perfect hit in the middle of the bullseye.

My family and the council members stared at me, stunned at what they just saw.

"Momma look! I did it I did it!" I cheered.

The expression my mother's face was a strained one, but she managed to pull out a smile "so I can see…"

"And without any sort of combat training" Yori stated with a strange smile. At this my mother turned to them abruptly. "You leave her alone!" She said warningly "Once she comes of age you can begin your tests! As for now! I want you off my land!"

"Yori, we seemed to have over stepped our boundaries" said Sadao, "we will leave you in peace Fumiko" and with that they left.

"Tomoko come here" my mother called. Slowly I made my way over to her and she kneeled down to my level. "Until your birthday, I don't want you do handle any more weapons… do you understand?"

"Oh… okay momma" I replied sadly, thinking I was in trouble.

My mother seemed to pick up on this and smiled "this isn't a discipline young one" she explained, "but try to understand that the council is watching you very closely."

"watching me? Why?"

"I can't tell you, not yet."

"WHY NOT?!"

"TOMOKO!"

"Sorry... I'll stop."

"TOMOKO!?"

"STOP YELLING AT ME!"

"TOMOKO WAKE UP!"

Slowly I opened my eyes, to see Sakura looking down at me with a somewhat, concerned look on her face.

Blinking a couple of times, I slowly sat up from my bed and proceeded to rub my eyes.

"What time is it?"

"About six in the morning" she answered. "Come on, we have to go with Tazuna-san to the bridge remember?"

Before answering, I let out a very loud yawn "yeah I remember, let me just get ready" I stated and slowly got out of bed. Sakura watched me carefully, as I proceeded to put my waist coat on over my shoulders, pull on my cut off pants and gradually secure my Ninja gear. It had been three days since our training session with Kakashi, and since me and Sakura both passed, we were on protective duty.

"You… didn't sleep so well last night did you?" she suddenly asked.

"What makes you say that?" I asked casually, and I continued getting ready, tying a knot in my waist coat like I usually do. I respectively grabbed my Ninja headband and tied it around my hips.

"Well…" she began "you sorta talk in your sleep and thrash a bit as if you're having a nightmare."

Finally I turned to face her and cradled my face with one hand, trying to think of a way to explain this.

"Do you remember me telling you about the side effects of wind reading?"

She nodded "yeah you said that they made you dizzy".

"Well that's only a minor one. Other effects cause somewhat excessive dreaming, and it's something to do with over working the brain." I paused for a second, "it's different for everybody, my brother, for example, when he started the training, he would actually sleep walk and…"

"What? what happened to him?" Sakura pressed.

I let out a breath "He had a seizure." I stared at Sakura's stunned expression "It wasn't as bad as it could've been, but it did shake him up a lot."

"How old was he?" she asked.

"six."

"SIX!?"

I couldn't help raise an eyebrow "I told you, training starts at four years of age when the minds fresh."

"Yes but… to put a child through all that…"

I shook my head in disbelief, "what is your point? That it's barbaric? Cruel? The methods may seem that way, but that's just how things are! All countries are run differently, if you and the others keep up this naïve belief that everything is all perfect like Konohagakure, then you need to wake up!"

Sakura was rendered speechless, which made me think on my words. "Sorry…" I mumbled shaking my head slightly.

"It's okay…" she answered softly "the side effects, I understand."

We didn't really say anything after that. We left the room and headed to the front door, "Sensei we're going!" I called.

And with that we left.

Kakashi heard the door close as both girls left the house. With the boys still training as well, he figured now would be a good time to examine what he confiscated from Tomoko. With his arms crossed, he stared at the vambraces, which were placed in front of him on the floor, long and hard. Eventually, he carefully picked one up and traced the engraved writings with his middle and index fingers.

It was a language he had never seen before, sure he knew some heáhbeorg ágenspræc (mountain language), but the words written on these were much older.

A knock came at the door. "Kakashi-san?" Tsunami called as she opened it, "I managed to get to get the book you requested" she told him as she walked further in the room. "It was quite difficult to look for, even the librarian wasn't sure about whether they had it due to library being so under budget."

"I'm sorry for the trouble" Kakashi said bashfully, which made Tsunami laugh and wave her hand. "Nonsense, it gave me something to do other than clean the house" she then behind to fish through her bag "here you go."

Kakashi gingerly took the old, tattered book from her hands and nodded a thank you as she left the room, to which he was thankful for. He gently placed the vambrace back on the floor and immediately started flicking through the pages, slowly and softly. One chapter in particular caught his eye.

"Yamakure folc reccung (folk stories)" he read aloud. "The Creation of the two forces, began in a veil of light. Nothing changed and everything remained static. Then out of nowhere, darkness poisoned the purity, causing everything to unbalance and descend into blackness. Thus began the dimension of Oblivion, and the molding of both chaos and order." He skipped a page.

"Life was created, water flowed endlessly, plants grew increasingly and creatures involved rapidly. But most importantly, was the birth of the gods of the Oblivion Nexus, Mistuko of Order and Yaso of Chaos". Kakashi stopped reading for a second, he already knew the basics of this story. Both Mistuko and Yaso engaged in a fierce battle, one were no one was the victor, or the loser. So it was decided that they would co-exist and create a balanced world.

Why he thought something would trigger anything related to Tomoko's vambrace, was beyond him! He skipped a couple of more pages.

"Prophecy of Mistuko's Champion?"

It was a picture of an old scripture, the writing was something he couldn't read well. "Wait a minute…" he quickly picked up the vambrace, and inspected the writings again. It was the exact same language on the engraved metal! This couldn't be pure coincidence. His eyes darted back to the picture, below it was a translation.

"At a time of darkness, Mistuko will bless her one loyal follower with a child. one who embodies the will, leadership and power of the Lady of Order. Chosen as Mistuko's champion, they shall aid the one who will restore order to the earth and bring peace forever."

Kakashi put the vambrace back down, and rubbed his chin in though. "Embodies the will, leadership and power? But how?" Kakashi skipped back to the creation story. Clearing his throat he read out loud…

"Although a truce was agreed between both forces, this peace did not last long. As Yaso's obsessive nature for power, could not be contained. Yaso began to beckon people to his will, to worship and follow him. These disciples would go on to do monstrous acts against human kind."

Kakashi paused and held his temple, he forgot just how complex Yamakure religion was. The men that the book talks about were child killers, occult believers and warmongers. Any crime that you could think of, they committed.

"Mistuko, was so greatly saddened at Yaso's corruption of man, her tears thundered down on the earth. Thus creating a worldwide flood, to wash away all the corruption. Until she witnessed a young girl, who pleaded to her, to forgive man's selfishness and to give them a second chance. Mistuko once again saw purity within mankind and blessed the child, as her first loyal follower and keeper of the weapons of Order."

Kakashi looked up from the book, "weapons of Order? Mistuko had weapons?" Kakashi flipped to another chapter titled 'Yamakure military power'. Once again, the chapter told pretty much what he already knew, Yamakure shinobi are masters of molding chakra as they begin training at early age, he learnt that much just from watching Tomoko. However one paragraph caught his attention…

"Yamakure Shinobi weld their weapons from an unknown formula, this formula is said to help with the molding of the chakra into one place."

'Now that's interesting' thought Kakashi as he read it for a second time. Unfortunately, the book didn't say how it all actually works.

"I wonder…"

Kakashi picked one of the vambraces for a third time. Once again, taking in the detail. It was only now he noticed, that the actual metal it was made of, wasn't one he was familiar with. Taking the plunge, he placed the book on the floor, he formed a seal with his now, free hand, and focused all his chakra there.

At first, he could feel a slight burning sensation, nothing to fret about. So he decided to focus even more chakra. Abruptly, flashes of green blocked his vision, high-pitched screaming deafened his eardrums and his hand singed under the hot contact of the now red hot metal. Crying out in pain Kakashi dropped the vambrace and cradled his hand.

"Kakashi-san?!" Tsunami called frantically as she rushed in the room "are you alright?"

Shaking, Kakashi began inspecting the damage of his hand, only to find no damage at all. His hands were still perfectly smooth and pale.

"Did you hear the screaming?" he asked.

"Screaming? You mean apart from you?"

Kakashi nodded.

"No I didn't hear anything of the sort" Tsunami answered simply.

Kakashi blinked a couple of times and stared at the vambrace he dropped, it too was perfectly normal. Did that all just happen in his head? What caused that reaction?

He now knew, the only way to fully understand what these vambraces were, was to have Tomoko use them somehow.

Nothing…

Absolutely nothing but the sound of ocean currents, building work and small chatter filled my highly adjusted ears.

A yawn echoed behind me, its soft tone indicating it to being Sakura… typical.

"You look bored all by yourself" Spoke Tazuna as his footsteps slowly made contact with the concrete.

1… 2… 1… 2…

the way his shirt ruffled against his skin, told me he was carrying something… something heavy.

"Where's that blonde kid and arrogant guy?" he asked her.

"They're training with a tree climbing exercise" she answered.

"And what about you?"

Sakura let out a cocky 'ahem' sound. "I'm smart, so Kakashi-sensei told me to guard you." If my eyes were open, I would have rolled them over, of course she forgets to mention that I'm here as well.

Tazuna ceased walking to stare at her… and without missing a beat asked "Really?"

I couldn't help but chuckle under my breath at Sakura's reaction, the sound of her gritting teeth vibrated my eardrums.

"I'm not being funny here, but why can't you and Tomoko take this… reading thing in turns?" he asked her simply.

"I don't know how to wind read" she replied, "Kakashi-sensei ordered her to listen out for any kind of enemy, at least until he is a hundred per cent again, it's just a precaution."

"Well it's not fair if you ask me" stated the old man stubbornly. "We probably wouldn't have made it back to the house if she wasn't here, and she's still not given a break!". He continued his work, perfectly, I could Sakura grumbling under her breath.

"Stupid Tomoko! Always here to save the day! Pssf!"

"I can hear what you're saying you know" I firmly told her, which in turn caused her to squeak in surprise.

"May I have a word with you, Tazuna?" called a voice as he walked over to the bridge builder.

"Eh?" Tazuna stopped what he was doing "what is it, Giichi?"

The man named Giichi hesitated, his words came out slow "Well, after thinking about it" Pause... "Can I quit this bridge building?"

"W-WHY ALL OF A SUDDEN!?" Tazuna spluttered loudly "NOT YOU TO!"

"Tazuna" spoke Giichi sternly, "I've known you for a long time. I want to help, but if I get too involved, Gatoh will come after me, to."

Tazuna grumbled under his breath, clearly he wasn't pleased with this man's sudden departure. Giichi tried to persuade his friend to stop building the bridge, but the old man was stubborn, clearly stating that the bridge belonged to them, and that the town's people have worked on this bridge in hopes for a better life.

"But if we die…" stuttered Giichi.

However Tazuna cut him off "You see that girl over there?" I'm assuming he was referring to me, "her and her teammates risked their lives to get me here, so I'm not backing out now and wasting their time!"

"But Tazuna!"

I could sense things getting a little heated, and since Sakura was just sitting there, I had no choice but to step in. "Tazuna-san" I spoke whilst opening my eyes and standing up. Immediately both men stopped bickering as I turned around to face them. "You've worked hard, perhaps it's time we stopped for lunch?"

Tazuna was silent for a second, but nodded in agreement. As he started walking… his friend called out to him.

"Giichi" he called back "you don't have to come anymore" and with that he walked off. Slowly I made my way over to where Sakura was sitting.

"Not to sound demanding or anything…" I said in a frustrated tone, "but can you at least try to keep the peace?!"

"What was I supposed to say?!" Sakura retorted.

"Look!" I spoke harshly "focusing on what I'm doing is hard enough, but with a bunch of old geezers quibbling doesn't exactly help, so can you at least attempt to work with me here!"

"Fine!" replied Sakura snobbishly, which caused a vein to pop out of my head.

'Mistuko give me the strength not to kill her!'

Later on… when the day was over, the three of us began to make our way back to the house, only this time round we were going a different route.

"Hey, where are we going?" Sakura asked.

"I've been asked to buy the ingredients for tonight's dinner" Tazuna replied and stopped in front of a tattered old building. "This is it" and with that he walked in.

"You go in, I'll watch the door" I told her. As Sakura disappeared inside, I finally had the chance to soak in everything around me. This town was in complete dismal. Young children were picking pockets for change and snatching bread from stands. Elderly men, were walking around with signs, pleading for employment. The shops weren't much to look at either, most building looked ready to collapse. I felt and heard movement beside me.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you" I spoke calmly as I looked down to the side. I saw a little girl shiver in fear next to me, her hand held in the air near my weapons pouch.

"I-I... please don't punish me!" she cried.

Watching her tense up in fright broke my heart. "Hey" I spoke softly kneeling down to her level, "who said anything about punishing you?"

She slowly opened her eyes and gave me a puzzled look "you're… not going to hurt me?"

"No" I replied. "Here, it's not much, but it'll buy you some rice for at least three days" I said giving her some spare change.

"Wha… really?!" she breathed happily.

I smiled at her "really… now go on clear off. And don't let me catch you doing this again!"

"Yes! Thank you onee-san" she cheered and ran off.

"What a cute kid…"

"AHHH YOU PERVERT!"

The sudden crashing noise and scream spooked me, it sounded a lot like Sakura. Rushing into the store, surprisingly, I saw a man completely floored with his nose bleeding and Sakura standing above him.

"What happened?" I asked, still stunned.

"This guy tried to grope me!" she screeched. I looked down at the injured man, who mumbled something about how he wasn't.

"Well it serves you right" I told him "whatever it was you were trying to do…"

'perhaps I shouldn't underestimate Sakura'.