Kiyoko- Eight years old
I’ve been hearing the adults say some strange things. I don’t know what they are talking about, but it involves me. It feels like everytime I go to school there is only more students glaring at me. The teachers don’t acknowledge me, and I don’t know why. I put on my shoes, and I grabbed my materials before I go to school. I walk alone again, but I didn’t expect anyone to walk with me anyways. I saw Eri and her friends laughing and talking while they walked. I wanted to cry, but I started to notice I cry almost everyday now.
“Look its her. She’s a loner. Like always. No one wants her around, that’s what my parents said.” Eri said, and smirked. Her friends laugh, making a few tears fall from my eyes. I promised myself I wouldn’t cry anymore. I hide my eyes with my hair. If I can’t see them then they couldn’t see me.
“Ya my mommy said that too,” One of her friends said. I rushed past them, all I wanted was to go to school and go back home. I was alone either way. The bells ring when I enter the classroom, Kenji-sensei my homeroom teacher, was taking attendance. He never calls my name.
“Alright class today we are going to focus on chakra control. Everyone follow me outside. Please be quiet in the hallways, you’ll disrupt the other classes.” Kenji-sensei says and leads the classroom to the open field in the back of schoolyard. All the other kids walked with their friends, so I stayed in the back of the line. We got closer to the river that flowed in the back.
“What the goal is to cross the river. You might have noticed that there is no bridge or rope to get across that’s because your will cross the stream using chakra. I’ll demonstrate.” Kenji-sensei stepped onto the water. We all clapped, he wasn’t sinking.
“Concentrate chakra on your feet. Use too little you’ll sink, use too much and you’ll rocket off the river.” He steps out. And begins to call names in alphabetical order. My name wasn’t called. I raise my hand, I wanted to try it. I see Kenji-sensei notice my hand. Excitement comes over me, but when he ignores it and says class is over for the day, I feel sadder than before. I watch my classmates run home, some parents come to pick them up. I look at my reflection in the river.
Was there something scary about me? Nope, I look normal. Was there something that made them ignore me? I can’t see it. Was I ugly? Eri and her friends said I was. But why? Why do they say mean things to me? I hit the water and I can’t see my reflection anymore. I’ll practice the chakra lesson we did today. I step on the water slowly. I picture my energy on the sole of my feet. I smile when I stand on the water. I did it. I laugh, maybe father will be proud that I am the only one in my classroom that did it on the first try. I walk slowly on the water, and then I’m running back and forth. I fall, getting all of my clothes wet.
Two boys were standing on the water next to me. they pushed me, I didn’t fall.
“Who do you think you are? You’re not supposed to learn that. Only humans get to go to school and learn.” He steps closer. I don’t know his name but he was bigger than me. The other one was shorter but had an intimidating stare. I stand, and look at them.
“I’m a person. I go to school too,” I quietly defend myself. They laugh at me.
“You’re a monster. Why don’t you just disappear.”
“No better yet, why don’t you die.” The smaller one gets closer, but I step back. Die? I don’t want to die. I wanted to pee from the fear of what they can do to me. The bigger boy grabs my long hair and drags me to land. I clutch the water but it slipped through my fingers. I cry.
“let go of me!”
They don’t listen, and the smaller boy holds my arms from flinging around. They were going to kill me like Eri and her friends tried to lock me in the well. Will father come to my rescue again?
They forced me to kneel in front of the river, the smaller boy kept his hands on my calfs, and the bigger boy still had a handful of hair in his fist. My tears were blinding me. My head hurt from the hair pulling and I was scared. So afraid.
They push my head into the water, holding it there for a while. The cool water seeped into my ear, I held my breath for as long as I could, but I was running out of air quickly. My heartbeat needed oxygen to keep the blood pumping but my breath was getting shorter and shorter with every second that passes. They pull me back, the sweet air rushes back into my lungs, but they push me back in the water before I get to take a deep breath. I was going to drown and die.
This time they didn’t pull my hair, and let me breath. They kept pushing my head into the deadly water. My head hurt from the lack of air, and my lungs were screaming in pain. I needed air, my brain reacted and took in deep breath, sucking in water instead. Water rushed into my body, I closed my eyes, this was it.
Their handle on me loosened for a second, I pushed back. I gasped when I was able to take a breath again. I coughed up water, my chest hurt from the sudden intake of air. I was shaking from fear, and from the cold water. The boys were running toward someone on the other side of the fence. I watched as they hugged their parents, and turned to scowl at me. Did their parents tell them to do this? Their parents did want me gone.
I take a few minutes to control my breathing. My wet clothing clung to my small body as I walked home. Everyone stared at me, with angry eyes. What did I do this time? I gulp down my tears, and run home.
“ That monster got my nephew in trouble, can’t it just leave this village and let us live in peace,” I hear a women say as I run past her. I do want to leave the village, but where would I go. If my people didn’t want me then who would? I slam my front door, wanting silence. I didn’t want to hear them say those things anymore. They said once I don’t need to be reminded about it everyday. I take a bath, and hang my clothes to dry. At least I know how to stand on water now, isn’t all the jutsus have to do with chakra control. I’m better at controlling my chakra then my classmates, but no one acknowledges me. Kenji-sensei acts like I don’t exist.
“ Do you know why everyone hates me, mother?” I wait for an answer but there is nothing but silence in this house.
“Because you destroyed the only hope we had.” I see a shadow move. Father’s face comes into view, his eyes just like everyone else’s. The only hope? What did he mean by that? I haven’t destroyed anything. He talks about hope, but I don’t really know what that signifies. What is hope?
Kiyoko-present
Hope, a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. I looked at father, and I wanted him to be proud. I’ve felt hope before, but I abandoned it when I ran away. If I wanted something to happen, then I’ll have to make it happen. I learned that over my many years on the run.
I hoped to be a jounin, but that didn’t happen. It’ll happen now because I’m putting hard work into training. The sun has finally rose, and like a timer my body falls onto the ground, completely exhausted. With the new light of the day I finally see where I am. I see the village walls just a few meters away, I have my back resting on a tree. I smile, I did it. I trained until sunrise, I can happily rest for a while. The wind feels nice against my clammy skin, I closed my eyes and rest.
“You don’t know when to stop, do you?”
I open my eyes, but the sun is high in the sky and blinding me. It must be around twelve or one, I’ve been asleep for about five hours. I don’t feel the hard surface of the tree on my back anymore. My feet are hanging, and I don’t feel the ground anymore. I squint and see the familiar mask and the one eye of Kakashi. I want to hop out of his arms, but my body doesn’t respond. I had no energy left, all I wanted was to fall into an endless dream, but more often than not I have nightmares. I let myself be carried to wherever Kakashi intended to take me, I closed my eyes but I didn’t doze off again. I feel him begin to climb the stairs, I know we were going to the apartment.
“I can walk now,” I tell him, and open my eyes. I see him hesitate but sighs in defeat. I’m put onto my feet, they ache as they carry my weight. Kakashi helps me to the door after sensing that I couldn’t walk on my own. I sit on the couch and let out a sigh of contentment.
“You over did it. You won’t be moving very much for at least another couple days.”
I’ll start tomorrow, I wasn’t going to stop now. I’m finally able to throw the shurikens correctly. They landed in a perfect line down half the log. I remembered watching a young girl train with her sensei, I must have been fifteen when I saw them. I hid in a tree, away from their eyes and away from an attackers. Her sensei told her to transfer some of her chakra into the kunai, it will be much more effective that way. I tried it last night. I put my chakra into a kunai and threw it. It went right through the wood log and impaled boulder behind it.
“Where you training all night?” Kakashi gets me a glass of water. I nod and chug it down. It felt nice as it went down my throat. My thirst wasn’t satisfied but it was tamed. My hunger, on the other hand, was savage. I’ll regain energy faster if I eat and rest. I already feel my body recuperate its lost chakra. I grunt and stand up to get a fruit from the kitchen. Kakashi watches me closely, I know because I can feel his eye burn a hole in my back. The apple is sweet and juicy. I grab four more and a knife from the drawer. I sit at the kitchen table and try to cut the apples, but my shaky hands make it impossible. The empty bowl in front of me was waiting for its peeled and sliced apples.
“Here let me. You’re still a little shaky.” Kakashi takes the knife from my hand and starts peeling the apples for me.
“What are you trying to prove? If its that you’re determined to become a jounin, I believe you. But you can’t push your body to its extreme. Everyone has a limit, even if yours is larger than others.”
“I want to prove everyone who doubted me wrong. I don’t want them to think I let them win, that I’m weak,” I tell him. He sighs, cutting the apples down the middle.
“Why do you want to prove them wrong? You’ll never see them again.”
“You don’t know that. They told me I couldn’t be anyone. I was a monster you destroyed their only hope. I don’t know what that means. They always ignored me, and they never let me be who I wanted to be.” I try to not remember the looks they would give me.
“So you will train until you become who you think you are?” Kakashi starts to peel the third apple.
“All I want is to finally feel like I can do anything I want. To feel free from any danger, and focus of living my life. I want to protect, because the for the first time in my life I have a purpose to exist. Before all I did was try to survive everyday.”
Kakashi doesn’t answer this time, and continues to peel the last apple. Slowly the red skin is peeled away. The true identity of the apple hides behind the red peeling. Its true form was sweet and soft. I’ve finally peeled away who I was, and stepped into the world where I can reach my goal to become the person I want to be. It just took time and effort to peel away the doubt and guilt.
He slides the bowl full of sliced apples my way. I stand to throw the trash away, but Kakashi beats me to it. I munch on the apples. Humming as the sweet flesh settles in my empty stomach. Four apples wasn’t enough I felt like I could eat a big feast. Like the time when I was at the orphanage. I got a brilliant idea.
“Kakashi do you mind lending me some money?” I finish the last slice.
“Sure, how much do you need?” Kakashi goes into his bedroom.
“Not much, just enough for some groceries. I’ll make dinner tonight.” He hands me the money, and goes back to his room. I shower before I head out. My body was still sore, but I figured that I was going to be sore for a while, might as well get used to it. First I’ll go to the meat stand, I don’t cook very much because I never had a kitchen to use, but I know a few recipes. I get enough beef for six people. I know I’ll want seconds and leftovers for tomorrow. I go the produce stands on the other side. I ask for carrots, onions, celery, herbs, squash, and broth. I recall there was rice back home, so I had everything I needed to make dinner.
From the corner of my eye I see a girl with orange hair walk towards me. It was Eri. I don’t want to deal with her today, I didn’t want to ruin the mood I was in. I quickly make a detour and make sure she doesn’t see the way I am going. I look back and the coast is clear, I sigh in relief. The bags are heavy, and my arms scream for help, but it was a good way to gain muscle. I return to the apartment and find it alone, Kakashi must have gone out. I leave the change on his dresser and tied my hair back. I removed my forehead protector, and started cutting the vegetables into quarters. I boiled them in the chicken broth.
I looked for the oil in the cabinets, I had to climb on the counter to reach it. Then I’m on the search for a spatula. I find it on the right top corner. While they biol I look around and find where the cups and plates live. I find the spoons and forks home too. I grabbed a pan from the hanger and begin to broil the meat. It takes time to get it to perfection, but when I think about the meal overall my mouth waters. I set the rice cooker, and let the rice steam. I tuck a loose lock of hair behind my ear as I cut the hot meat into slivers.
Kakashi walks into the kitchen as I cut the last piece.
“The stove hasn’t been used in a while. How’s it running.”
“Just fine. I haven’t cooked in a while, I sure miss it.” I turn off the stew, and check the rice. I poke it and notice its spongy and ready.
“Dinner is ready if you’d like to join me,” I asked and begin to serve the stew into bowls,
“I haven’t had a home cooked meal like this in years. I always make snacks and eat take out. If you haven’t noticed I’m not much of a cooker.” He sits as I serve him the bowl. I cup the rice into smaller ones and put a couple slices on the edge of it. I get my meal as well.
“Itadakimasu.” We say in unison. I begin with the rice first, and dip my meat into the stew. My stomach welcomes the warm broth. I notice Kakashi slide his mask down. I try not to stare, but its the first time I see what hides underneath the mask. His skin is flawless, and he has a sharp jaw line. His lips are thin, and his teeth are perfectly straight. He doesn’t wear his forehead protector either. This may be the only time where he completely uncovers his face. Kakashi is handsome. What? Did I just think that? Why am I feeling something in my stomach? Its only the food, calm down. I have to stop having conversations like this with myself. He didn’t seem to notice me staring, he was occupied in his food.
“Its delicious. Who taught you how to cook?” I am drawn back from my trance.
“Sister Ai. It was after the war when she stumbled across me. I was laying in the ground, starving, but she found me and saved me. She took me in regardless of the overflow of war orphans. The kids there treated me nicely and I thought I've finally found a home. I always wanted to learn how to cook so I helped Sister Ai with dinner everyday. It was the happiest time of my life on the run. I slept in a warm bed. I are hot food, and I bathed every day. I wanted to stay there forever, but I was a fool to think the Moon ninja would let me live there on peace. They attacked me in the night, they killed Sister Ai in front of me. Sister Ai was like a mother I never had,so when I saw her die, the monster in me was released.” I swallow the last bite of my rice.
“What happened then?”
“When I woke up I saw that I killed everyone in the orphanage. The building was complete destroyed. I was soaked in the blood of all the kids that lived there. I’ve never felt so guilty in my life, I still feel guilty thinking about their lives that could have been lived. Sister Ai would hate me for killing all of them, she protected all the orphans like they were her children. My hands are tainted with blood of the innocent.” I look at my hands, they are clean, but they will always be dirty to me. No cleanser can wipe the blood off, and I’ve began to accept it.
“Can I have seconds?” Kakashi gives me his empty bowl, I smile at the change of subject and mood. I get up to serve him seconds, when there is a knock on the door.
“I’ll get it.” I leave his served food on the table, and peek at the door to see who it is. A tall man with brown hair enters the apartment. He has a different forehead protector that goes around his face. He has black eyes, but wears the same gear Kakashi wears.
I return to the kitchen, I don’t want to be caught eavesdropping. Their voices get closer and I sit in my chair.
“Yamato this is Kiyoko, Kiyoko this is Yamato.” Kakashi introduces the man, another name to remember. I stand up from my chair and bow.
“Pleased to meet you. Would you like to join us in dinner?”
“I would love to, but I only came to give Kakashi something. Maybe another time, thanks for the offer.” He smiles and turns to Kakashi. Kakashi nods and follows him to the living room. I let them have their privacy and serve myself more food. Soon enough Kakashi returns to finish his food, with a serious feeling radiating off of him. I want to ask him what is wrong but I decide it is better to let it go.
“I’ll clean the dishes.” Kakashi starts to gather the dirty dishes, there is leftovers to last us another meal, I use plastic wrap to cover the rice. I stick it in the refrigerator. I leave Kakashi with his thoughts and the dirty dishes. After Yamato left he was much more closed off. What did Yamato tell him? I return to my bedroom and notice a pile of dirty clothes getting bigger every day. After loading the washer machine with my smelly clothes, I had nothing to do for the first time since I’ve gotten here. I walk to the bookshelf in the living room, looking for anything good to read. A book does catch my eye “How a shinobi should die” , I slid it out of its place.
“You don’t want to read that, it’ll make you question the way you fight and why you exist. Believe me, I tell you from experience.” Kakashi wipes his wet hands with a towel, I look at the first page, the first word is death. I take his word and close it. I slide it back into its spot. Kakashi has pulled his mask over his face again, I sit in the living room. I was going to take a nap, when I hear another knock come from the door. So many visitors, I go to open the door, Kakashi was almost done cleaning anyways. His guest could wait just a little. I expected one of Kakashi’s friends, but instead its Eri.
I cursed under my breath.
“Hey,” She gives me an apologetic smile.
“Hi.”
“I was hoping we could go out for dinner.”
“I just ate.”
“Oh well, how about we go for a walk.”
“I don’t think thats a good idea.” Eri sighs and tugs at her orange hair. I feel Kakashi come closer from behind.
“I think that is a brilliant idea.” I whip to give him a glare. He knew I didn’t want to talk to her, not now. He gives me an encouraging smile, it didn’t make me feel any better about it.
“I’m about to head out anyways, it’ll get lonely. Why don’t you ladies go and talk. Here buy yourselves something.” Kakashi shoves money into my hand, he excuses himself and walks away from the apartment. I remind myself to give him a good tirade next time I see him. Eri is standing in front of me hopeful I’ll listen to Kakashi. Damn him, I pull on my sandals and lock the apartment. So much for laundry day.
I could think of hundreds of other places I would rather be, but karma hasn’t been my friend lately. Eri still smiles beside me, oblivious to my feelings about her at the moment. It bugs me. How can she act like she didn’t do anything wrong?
“Want to get dumplings? I haven’t eaten dinner yet.”
“Last time you offered me dumplings you ended up locking me in a well,” I say. If this didn’t hint to her I was having a bad time then I don’t know what will. She sighs in defeat.
“I’m sorry. I know I’ve said it before but I’m honestly saying that I am sorry. If I could take back all I did to you I would.”
“Why would you say that, Eri? What made you this way?”
“I should ask you the same question. You are nothing like the girl I knew.” We stop and sit at a park bench. It was getting close to sunset, and the sky was turning golden.
“We’ve both changed over the years. I told you we moved to get medical help for my father, at the time I didn’t know my father was gravely ill. They wouldn't tell. Four months after we arrived my father dies while our family is eating dinner. He just dropped and his lifeless body hit the ground. He had a disease that still doesn’t have a cure. They finally told me about his illness. They didn’t tell me the truth about him, so I vowed no matter how hard the truth is I’ll always speak my mind. I have created a few enemies because I am so open, but I don’t want anyone to feel like I felt when they hide their true feelings. I’m sorry if I offended you, but its just the way I am now,” She turns her head and gives me a brave smile. I guess she hasn’t had the perfect life I thought she did.
“It wasn’t until a few days ago that I was always on the run. Traveling from town to town. I would survive off of the earth, I never had enough money for many things. I hid during the war, I fought back against the Moon Village, but I came to accept that it was the way I lived. I’m the monster that would scare you when you were a child. I grew up to be the monster everyone feared. It was like that for the longest time, but someone heard me. Naruto heard my cry, and he saved me. I owe him this new life. I want to start all over here. I wanted to leave my past behind me, so when I saw you live here now, it caught me off guard.”
Eri takes my cold hands in hers.
“I’ll leave it behind us, if you leave what I did behind us as well.”
I don’t refuse so she drags me to the nearest dumpling shop and she orders dozens after dozens. I’ve noticed that she fancies dumplings.
Kakashi’s POV
I zip my flak jacket, and make it to the rendezvous area with Yamato. Earlier today he wanted to talk to, but I was occupied. He said something about a tailed beast. I see Yamato leaning on the bridge, staring at the river below him.
“Kakashi not a minute late.”
“I’m not late when things matter.” I stand beside him. I remember when I first met Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke, I thought they were idiots, but they showed improvement. They hated to wait for me.
“So what about the tailed beast.” I get straight to business. I took the liberty of asking Yamato for a favor. Since Kiyoko doesn’t know about the tailed beast she has inside her, I asked Yamato to make a list of its Jinchuuriki and the tailed beast. He’s an ANBU so he has the resources for the research.
“These are the most updated ones. Garra has the one tails, Yugito Nii, has the two tails. And um Rin Nohara last had the three tails inside her. As of right now the three tails doesn’t have a jinchuuriki, we don’t know where it is at the moment. Son Goku has the four tails, Han has the five tails, Utakata has the six tails, Fu contains the seven tails. Killer Bee has the eight tails and Naruto has the nine tails. I’ve written personal information about each jinchuuriki. Its all inside the folder.”
I take the yellow folder, every tailed beast is taken, all but the three tails, it must be inside Kiyoko then, thats the only explanation. There is one big misinterpretation though, Kiyoko told us the beast inside her is not any of the nine tails. Could it be possible that it tricked her and is lying about its true identity.
“Why do you need that?”
“You know personal curiosity.”
“Alright, alright, you don’t want to tell me,” Yamato says in defeat. We stay there watching the river flow in silence. There wasn’t much to say between us, there never has, but somehow we managed to become friends.
“Kakashi! Lady Tsunade sent me looking for you.” I see Eri run towards me, or rather walked quickly, she is pregnant after all.
“Its Kiyoko. She’s coughing up blood.”
Eri’s face flushed with panic. With that said, I quickly run to Lady Tsunade’s office. I let you have some fun and girl time and this is what happens. I can’t let you out of sight can I , Kiyoko.
[Reviews - 130]Chapter or Story
Table of Contents
- Text Size +
Chapter notes: Enjoy the chapter
kinda like kabuto's past, just a tiny bitty, but anyways read and find out.
Chapter end notes: leave comments
dislikes/likes
questions
I accept all feedback!!! Thanks for reading