Chapter 2

Beta'd by Black Sparrow

'Life sucks…no really life sucks, it doesn't give you a moment to catch your breath.'

That or similar thoughts ran through a devastated and frustrated Shiori's mind. She was now twelve years old and cursing her luck, fate, the fact that she was reincarnated and had somehow unlocked her memories of her previous life…oh and her looks too.

The year had begun with an unforeseeable flood that had destroyed half of her family's crops, which not only meant that they were going to have a lean winter but also that they couldn't pay for the medicine her grandmother so desperately needed. Shiori was aware of this even more than her parents; after all it was her responsibility to look after her strict, correct and now invalid grandmother. The elderly woman had taught her everything from reading, writing and counting to manners and tea ceremonies. Shizuka had once been the beautiful daughter of an impoverished noble family and had married Shiori's grandfather when the rest of her family had been killed on their way to their relatives and she had been without any means but her stunning blue eyes and long silky black hair in the countryside. Said looks had been passed down from Shizuka to Shiori, who thanks to the hard life and deficient nutrition looked a lot more mature than children in her age bracket normally did.

As a consequence of not being able to pay for the medicine, Shiori's grandmother had died only a few months later with only sixty one years. The black haired girl had mourned her death bitterly. Her grandmother had understood her better than her more simple minded parents ever could. Shizuka-obasan had been the one that had noticed her bright and quick mind and had taught her a lot more than the basics of writing. Her grandmother had taught Shiori calligraphy and the poems that she still remembered from her own youth. The old woman had shown her the difference between the greetings of the different classes; she had even given her lessons in small talk and other seemingly inconsequent things that a poor farmer's daughter would never have the need of, but Shiori had loved those lessons. The little girl had practiced the so exact brushstrokes with water on the smoothed down rocks beside the river whenever she was sent to do the washing. For that she had smuggled out one of her father's two brushes, Shiori was thankfully never caught while doing this, her father would have most likely beaten her somewhat fierce.

The black haired girl had soon learned to never invoke the ire of her father through disobeying an order, because while during Eliza's life corporal punishment was outdated and frowned up on, here in the Elemental countries it was common practice for parents.

When the time of Shizuka's death came Shiori had been the only one sitting at her grandmother's death bed; her parents had been working in the fields like they had done on every other day, even his mother's death wasn't a reason for Shiori's father to leave his work unattended for one day.

Shizuka-obasan had used this chance to make Shiori promise to never let herself be talked into anything that she didn't want to and to make something out of her life, no matter if it went against the wishes of her parents or not. The young black haired girl had promised her grandmother this under tears and when her parents returned in the evening, Shiori had already put a white cloth over Shizuka's face and started to burn the homemade incense.

Shizuka was buried on the far side of the house on the next day.

But with that the horrible year didn't end. To even out the bad harvest both her parents found additional work on the fields of the next village at the farm of Fuji-san while this left Shiori solely responsible for the ones at home.

It was there that her parents found their end. They had been working in the fields farthest from the farm house, both of them had worked alongside another two dozen farmers to bring in the last of the crops before the summer down pour began and destroyed them. The weather had been unnaturally hot and humid for days now without the slightest breeze and this had put more than one of the older villagers on edge. This particular weather was normally followed up by a destructive hailstorm and so everybody was working themselves into exhaustion to bring in the last of harvest in before the storm began.

The hailstorm that had been brewing for quite some time before hand had surprised Shiori's parents shortly before sundown and struck them dead. Their bodies had been found after the storm had passed by only a few meters away from the farm house where the other workers had found shelter.

Shiori had gone numb when she had been told the news, not out of grief as callous as it sounded, her grandmother had been her real parent, Shizuka was the one that raised her and took care of her after all. No, Shiori was so devastated because she was now in the same situation as her grandmother had been, without family or wealth in the countryside and with her beauty as the only selling point.

Which led to her current problem, Fuji-san had offered to marry her.

The thought alone made her break out into cold sweat even if her mind was older; her body was still much too young to marry! She was twelve years old for god's sake, and why the hell were the women in Kawa encouraging her to accept his proposal? He was easily thirty years her senior!

Taking a deep breath Shiori tried to calm herself; she would have to get out of Kawa and the region in general as soon as possible. Todo-san, whose eldest son had recently married, had offered to buy her land for a reasonable price. He was probably thinking that she was hesitating to accept the proposal because she didn't have a proper dowry, well she wouldn't dissuade these thoughts. Having made up her mind Shiori walked to the other farmer's house and accepted his offer. After just having sold his crops Todo-san had enough money on hand to pay her out completely instead of being in debt by her and so the black haired girl wouldn't have to forgo a part of the money to escape this marriage.

To validate the transaction, two of their other neighbors were called to witness it and signed the hastily drawn up document as witnesses, now nobody could claim that this deal hadn't happened. Afterwards Shiori promised to vacate the house by the end of the week before she politely said goodbye to Todo-san and his family, the black haired girl then took her leave to return to her home. The moment Shiori held the bundle of money that would finance her escape in her hands, she felt an immense kind of relief, she could do this!

The rest of the day Shiori sorted through the things in her former home to decide what she could carry with her and what would just weight her down on her journey. In the end she packed her two spare kimonos along with her mother's shoes and the old jade comb her grandmother had hidden from both her husband and son into her father's old but still functional duffel bag and put in every last piece of food that would hopefully hold during her journey. The paper money was then sewed into the inside of her obi while the coins were distributed between the duffle bag and her hidden kimono pockets. The rest of the day Shiori cooked the biggest meal she had ever prepared in this new life with all the ingredients left in the kitchen and the vegetable garden. In the evening Shiori burned some incense for her grandmother and parents before she leisurely ate the food. Shiori felt calm and quite content while she ate her fill and more for the first time in years. The black haired girl packed the leftovers that she couldn't finish into her family's two Bento boxes and stored them inside the duffel bag before then she went to bed for the last time in this house.

Shiori awoke early the next morning; she knew that she would have to hurry if she wanted to slip away without being seen by anyone. Hastily she put her clothes on before she slipped into her sandals, closed the house down and shouldered her belongings. A last look behind her nearly made her turn around but with a shaky breath she steeled herself and purposely walked down the road.

She was just passing the last house of the village when a deep voice spooked her, "Leaving hmm?"

Shiori turned fearfully to the voice that sounded from the shadows of the house on her left side but before she could say anything in her defense the voice continued.

"Tze, I don't blame you. Everyone in this village is crazy if they think it's okay to marry a little girl to an old lecher just because he is rich."

Shiori started to calm down, she had finally recognized the voice, Tanaka-san was considered somewhat eccentric by the other villagers while Shiori just thought that he was a hell more progressive then the rest of Kawa. He was already in his late fifties and one of the more wealthy farmers in the village.

"Where are you going?" the gruff man asked.

"K-Konoha," Shiori squeaked out. She couldn't tell him that she had just decided to run without any plan or destination, Konoha was the first thing that came to her mind when he asked.

"Hhmpf, do you even know where that is?" the old man asked incredulous.

Hesitantly Shiori shook her head, as an answer she just received a sigh and a shake of the old man's head.

"Continue to follow this road, as soon as you are over the hill you will see a mountain range in the distance, take the roads in that direction and you will find some bigger villages, ask there for directions and for god's sake DON'T go with strangers or take food from them," the last part was said in a stern voice.

Shiori just nodded shyly before she bowed and said a heartfelt, "Arigato for your help, Tanaka-san. I will never forget."

"Hhmpf, now go. You don't have a lot of time before the others awake," was his only reply.

Nodding Shiori determinedly walked passed him and into the woods that led up a small hill, the journey of her life had just begun.