I decided to not bother with mc's back story. Someone commented about it and in my years of reading fanfiction I realized I'm also not a fan of backstories.

Six years passed in the blink of an eye. There was no way to know in which timeline I was, but I trained every day with no complaints. It was something I hadn't thought I could do before. I used to hate exercising. But according to Father, they would be returning to the world of summons soon. So, training had been sped up.

I had taken time to contemplate my appearance as I grew older. There were things I had to get used to. My red hair is one of those things. It was much longer, reaching my waist. The color, now that I think of it, could be an indication of me being an Uzumaki but then again there are others with red hair who weren't Uzumaki.

My long red hair was paired with eyes that looked like a silver moon lay in them. It was pretty but a little creepy at times when I forget what they look like. Looking back, I couldn't remember what my birth mother looked like seeing as I hadn't gotten the chance to get a glimpse of her, blurred or not, but I had an inkling that I got my eyes from her.

I had never stopped to think about why she had called me a monster at birth nor why she had given birth to me in the first place if she was just going to leave me to die. I stared at my pale skin. Every time it was a full moon I would lay near the pond and stare up at it. A phenomenon would happen. My eyes would light up like a blue moon and my skin would give a slight shimmer.

On my sixth birthday, a half-moon appeared on my forehead which scared the living shit out of me. it glowed nighttime. Weird stuff kept happening after that.

It became difficult to fall asleep when there was a full moon. It was like I was always in an adrenaline rush leaving me unable to sit still, let alone sleep. Sleeping at sunrise became the norm on those nights. Not that I was complaining, I could just fill up the time with extra training.

For some reason, I felt my chakra was much more easily usable, which I am grateful for now. Better chakra control equals more Jutsu I can learn. yayy!

Over the years I had found that there were no humans around. The forest I lived in was completely isolated from humanity. I don't have to tell you what that means, do I? 'No human contact' Woohoo!

My happiness didn't last long though.

"Ariel, it's time we leave the forest." Words that made me come to a haunting stop. 'Leave the forest?!'

"Why?!" I am perfectly fine living as if I were a wild animal in the forest. What did humans ever do for me anyway? Except abandon me, then and now.

"As a human child, you weren't meant to live out here. There are a lot of things your mother and I can't teach you." Father paused. I could see how fond of me he really was, and I understood how hard it was for him to come to this conclusion.

"There are a lot of things you have to learn about your kind. It's also time we, as summons, left this world. You see the owner of our contract died a long time ago."

I froze at that. I had assumed that it was a normal thing for there to be not one but two talking lions who just so happen to know how to use chakra in the human world. I felt a sting of pain in my chest. I knew where he was going with this. I just wasn't ready to hear it.

"Your mother has already returned but I stayed behind to make sure you had a shot at surviving on your own. I've taught you all I could." I could feel my body tremble as he spoke, and my head dropped to the floor as tears gathered and gravity pulled them to the grass beneath my feet. "The only thing left is to have you sign the summoning contract."

He paused, letting me take in what I had just heard. I nodded in understanding. It was difficult but I lifted my tear-filled eyes to the one who had raised me and saw the scroll. His expression was hard to decipher but I knew he was sad.

"Okay, Father." From what I knew of summoning contracts, this would not be the last time I saw him or Mother. So, it lessened my sadness to a dull ache.

Not long and I was making my way out of the forest, going in the direction I was pointed towards. Father said there was a village near the forest, and I should take caution as I left the space where I was raised. I later understood why he would always say it was dangerous to go any further. There were animals that were twice my size, some even larger.

I wish I could say I stood my ground and had the most dramatic fight to the death ever fought.

I ran.

Don't judge me, I was still new to the whole having to fight to survive trope. It may be an excuse but what can I do, I was outnumbered, and there were bugs.

Enough said.

One thing I could never get over was those creepy, elusive abnormalities.

So, I ran.

And ran.

And then ran some more.

Until I realized I was... Lost.

Sigh. 'Way to go me!'

An idea came to me. 'Why don't I just follow the stream?'