Darkness surrounded me. Darkness and cold. I drifted along, unable to move. Tired. I was so tired. Something touched my arm, I flinched, wanted to turn away. But the grip became firm and unrelenting. I opened my mouth to scream silently and opened my eyes. It took a while for my eyes to adjust to the surroundings. The ground was hard and cool. Yet there seemed to be something underneath me. I moved very slightly.

Yes...it was some kind of fabric. And above me...loomed a dark figure.

„Take it easy. I just want to help you," I heard a woman's voice.

It sounded gentle and friendly. I eyed her suspiciously. I could only make out her outline. She had slightly darker skin and eyes of the same color. Her hair was tied back in a messy knot. She reminded me a little of...

„Kairi?" I asked quietly, but my heart sank when the woman shook her head.

„Yugure. That's what my mother once called me," the hint of a smile was all I could make out. Now that I straightened up a little, I also realized that Yugure's hair was completely black. Kairi's, on the other hand, was a dark brown with a purple tinge.

„Asna. I don't have a mother," I replied curtly. Yugure paused. Her eyes widened. I watched her attentively.

„That's you. They're looking for you all over Sunagakure," she said surprised.

„The girl who ran away."

„Is that how you say it? I think that's a pretty nice version."

Yugure's gaze darkened. She sat up a little more and covered me a little more at the same time. Only then did I realize how cold my body was. I wrapped my arms protectively around my upper body.

„The Kazekage has been searching for an eight-year-old girl with a blind eye for two days. According to the information, you're from the orphanage and should be taken to a family. However, there was trouble and you ran away. But I think there's more to it than that, don't you?"

„I was supposed to go to this Raidon," I began, but Yugure interrupted me.

„Well... that's quite self-explanatory from here. I understand why you ran off, but apparently it wasn't Raidon you were supposed to come to."

I blinked at her, confused.

„How do you know that?" I asked. Yugure shrugged her shoulders.

„When you've been living on the streets for many years, you have to have allies. Otherwise, if you live like a lonely jackal just for yourself, you'll die one day or get into a fight with the other gangs that hang around here. I've always avoided them so far. It's not wise to mess with them...but I digress. What I actually wanted to say. Don't you want to go back? If you didn't have to go to Raidon?"

I shook my head. Yugure sighed.

„Don't get me wrong, but the street is no place for a young thing like you. You shouldn't pass up an opportunity like this."

Carefully, I sat up, drew my legs up and wrapped my arms around them. Just thinking about Raidon again gave me goose bumps.

„I am an outsider and I will remain so in the company of the proud shinobi. No. I'd rather be with my own kind and learn to live there. I'll be more accepted here than there." Yugure eyed me silently before sighing softly.

„Yes... outsiders. That sounds familiar. That's me too. My skin is quite pale, so the sun doesn't do me any good during the day and I can only venture out of my hiding place at night. It's very cold then, but unfortunately there's no other way," she sighed softly.

„Fits your name," I said. „Twilight."

Yugure grinned slightly.

„I think I'd like it if you stayed here. Living on the streets alone is not a nice thing."

I just nodded and looked around. Yugure noticed and dropped to the side. Even though it was still quite dark, I could see more now.

„We are in a house that was destroyed in the war. This little hiding place here is supported by two remaining pillars. I've shored them up a little further with a few small jutsus. The blankets at the entrance and the earth in the cracks keep out the harsh wind. So at least it stays a little warmer at night."

A question began to germinate in my mind, but I remained silent and listened to her words.

„So at least I tried to keep a little warm. You were pretty chilled when I found you. Another fifteen minutes and I wouldn't have been able to help you. The Medic-Nin might have, but I'm just a homeless person. There's not much I can do. It's also good that you're suspicious. Keep that in mind. You're easily betrayed here on the street. Because everyone is only interested in their own survival."

„Then why do you want to help me?" I asked quietly.

„You remind me of a friend of mine," Yugure replied quietly. „She was a lot younger than me, but we still got on very well."

A shadow crept across her face and I bit my tongue. I could probably explain to myself what had happened to her.

„You can use your chakra," I stated.

„Why?"

Yugure was silent before she nodded.

„I'm a trained chunin."

I didn't understand that.

„Then why are you here?" I asked.

Shadows crept into Yugure's eyes and she turned her gaze away slightly.

„Some bad things happened that I couldn't undo. Things that made me turn my back on the shinobi."

She didn't say anything else. Despite the fact that I had a thousand questions burning on my tongue, I kept silent and stared at the floor.

„I would like to learn," I said after a while in a firm voice and stared into Yugure's dark eyes. She pressed her lips together into a thin line.

She seemed to be thinking. Meanwhile, I didn't break eye contact once. I wanted her to see how serious I was. After all, I wanted to survive here too. Then I reached for her hand. It was as if a bolt of lightning went through my body. My eyes went black. I could feel many people around me and then a long, agonizing scream echoed in my ears. Loud shouts followed. That voice again, more desperate this time. But the pounding of my heart intensified. So much so that I couldn't understand the words that were being shouted. Just one: help!

„It seems you can use chakra after all," Yugure said, yanking me back. I wrenched my eyes open and blinked hard, trying to calm down. Whatever that had been, I'd never had it before.

„Rather unintentional so far," I mumbled.

„And it's not exactly weak either," she noted. „Yes...I think I'll teach you. You have to learn to control it. Not just for your own sake."

She looked at me seriously. I nodded, hiding what had just happened to me. She wouldn't understand. Neither would I. But maybe I would. If I was able to handle my chakra.

„But that's not the only thing I should show you. After all, you have to learn how best to survive here. And there are things you won't like. For example, how would you get something to eat?"

I hesitated.

„Steal?" It was more of a question than an answer.

Yugure sighed.

„I figured that would be your answer. But it's not quite that. Of course..., if the merchants are back in town, then yes. But they won't always be. So what are you going to do to survive?"

I didn't answer.

„Think about where else we could get food."

„We'll ambush someone."

„Not someone...we'll take care of what people don't care about. What's still good, but they think has flaws."

I understood what she meant. Without meaning to, I grimaced. Yugure watched me warily.

„You can still become a shinobi."

But I shook my head.

„No. I want to learn from you. When do we start?"

Temari

I looked thoughtfully into my noodle soup. My face was reflected on the surface. As soon as I breathed, I could see small waves rippling on it. As if I was creating wind and influencing the water.

The surface moved again as small stones touched it and sank into it. No... no stones. I stiffened as he sat down next to me and stared at his plate. The chair was too big for him, so he let the sand help him. He sat there in silence and ate.

My gaze broke away from the bowl and wandered to Kankuro, who had stiffened at Gaara's appearance. Silence prevailed. No one said a word. I didn't like it. In my class, many children always talked about their parents who did things with them, laughed with them, told them stories or played games.

I wished I had a family like that. But my mother had died when Gaara was born and my father was never around. He was Kazekage. Even though I was only seven, I knew that he had many duties. But sometimes I wasn't sure how important we were to him. Sometimes he was in a good mood and sometimes not so much.

Gaara always got a very dark look from father. But he didn't seem to be the reason at the moment. I dutifully put my chopsticks to one side and looked at my father until he felt my gaze.

„I hate silence. When you're silent, there's always something. But it has nothing to do with our family now, does it?"

Dad paused and stared at me. All of a sudden I felt very small. Like a rabbit in front of an eagle. But I pulled myself together and stuck my chin up. My question wasn't bad, just curious, nothing more. He would understand, wouldn't he?

He probably wouldn't answer again. Like the last time I'd asked him. As if he thought I couldn't do anything with his answer. Because I was a child. I didn't yet understand everything the adults said. But that didn't mean I couldn't sense when something wasn't right. That was especially important in this family.

And the reason for that was my father and Gaara. Father didn't like my brother very much. He wanted him to be strong. But Gaara was small, thin and couldn't control the strength that dwelled within him. Kankuro was afraid of him and I didn't know what to do. For fear of triggering something. Something dangerous that could hurt us.

I had never been allowed to play with Gaara before. Father had always forbidden it. Sometimes he even banished him to his room without telling us why. Kankuro didn't object any more. I didn't say anything either. Nevertheless, I sometimes slipped him some food through the door. Did he know I was doing that? Sometimes I really hoped so. It was as if I had two brothers and only knew one of them. The other was a stranger to me and yet important. It was supposed to be him. It made me so sad.

„No. It has nothing to do with our family," Dad finally said. I looked at him in surprise. After being lost in my thoughts for so long, I hadn't thought he would say anything.

„One of the children from the orphanage that we wanted to send to new families has disappeared."

My gaze flitted to Kankuro, who was now looking at our father after all.

„The girl, right? I heard from a friend that they're looking for her," he said.

Father's eyes narrowed.

„Was that Kairi's daughter, by any chance?"

Kankuro did not avert his gaze and remained silent. Even though he usually held back from Father and was careful with his words. Right now he was really brave to stand up for his friend.

Father snorted.

„Yes...she's wanted. Kairi took a fancy to the girl and insisted that she get a family too. Except the families seem to have been switched. One of the boys was supposed to come to Raidon instead of the girl. But the two didn't get along."

He didn't finish the sentence. Kankuro tensed, but said nothing. We were both thinking the same thing.

„We're not stupid, father. You can talk to us normally," I blurted out. Surprise appeared on my otherwise emotionless face. Gaara also looked up from his soup next to me and observed the conversation.

„Watch how you talk to me, Temari. I'm talking to you in a way that's appropriate for your age. Raidon wanted a boy and not a girl. He made that clear to the little girl," he said in a quiet, tense tone.

„What's wrong with asking things?" I replied, trying not to let my voice tremble.

„I don't think he was very nice to her," Gaara unexpectedly came to my rescue. But when I turned to him, he had his eyes on his soup again. From the eyes of his father.

„No... he wasn't. I've already taken care of that. We're looking for her at the moment too."

Kankuro nodded and I didn't say anything more either. Father had said more than I thought. But I was sure that the orphan girl was nowhere near as important to him as Kairi.