Naruto: Pain and Hope

The desert never gives more than what one needs. The desert never takes more than what one can provide. 

-Words of a desert dweller-

-Yahizui-

If one were to look upon the vast desert of Sunagakure, one would think it is desolate, devoid of life and filled with nothing but sand. However,  things worth noticing can never be seen with just a cursory glance. Large cities could be found, built around oases of clear water, filled with shrewd-eyed ninjas. And if one were to look carefully, there are small villages scattered all over the desert, peaceful gatherings of hard-working people with traditions as old as age itself. They are the desert dwellers, and the sand is their home.

Among them lived a small girl with forest green eyes, who loved her mother's sweet bread.

"Mama, Mama!" shouted the red-haired little girl, her boots kicking up a small cloud of sand and dust behind her.

Her mother looked up from the basket of freshly scrubbed linens with an admonishing look in her green eyes. "Yahizui-chan, don't run so fast, you will fall!"

"But mama, I have a present for you!" The girl grinned widely and stretched her small hands forward, palms wide open.

"Look!" Yahizui said with pride in her voice.

Amaya's eyes widened. "Y-y-yahizui-chan….t-that is a scorpion!"

In the outstretched palms of her almost six-year-old daughter was a sand scorpion. The creature looked like it had no care in the world, but she knew that one sting from it and not even their healer could help her.

Yahizui blinked her large green eyes in confusion. Of course, it was a scorpion; she knew that she caught it!

"I know mama, I caught it! It's pretty, no? I caught it for Mama because it has the same color as Mama's hair! I tried to get a red one for Papa, but I did not see any…"

Amaya looked down at her daughter, her eyes serious, her voice pitched low. "Yahizui, I know we talked about how you should not play with dangerous animals."

Her sentence was cut short as a roar split the usual silence of the desert. It was like nothing she'd ever heard, freezing the blood in her veins. Suddenly the ground trembled with the force of an earthquake. Sand rose in the air, rasping against their skin, stinging their eyes. There was a moment of silence, as every villager seemed to hold their breath and look toward the sound.

Then Amaya saw it.

It rose from within the desert's bowels, like a fearsome and terrifying creature of the underworld, towering higher than anything she had ever seen in her entire life, making the sand thrash in waves at the strength of its roar. Fear coursed through Amaya's veins and she instinctively grabbed her daughter.

The desert God was coming.

Yahizui trembled in her mother's tight embrace, her newly captured pet already scrambling toward freedom. Something told her that her mother was more scared than she had ever been. "Mama… m-mama what is…"

Amaya did not seem to hear her words. Her grip became painful as the fear within her heart escalated to an unbearable level. The Desert God was coming for them, for all of them. She had to protect her daughter, her sweet wayward child who never listened to warnings. She had to do something!

"Yahizui," Amaya said in a trembling voice, the vice-like grip of desperation almost silencing her voice. "Go to the house. Now."

Her mother's voice left no room for argument, cutting through the shroud of fear that was beginning to grip the red-haired girl. 

Yahizui nodded, her short legs carrying her at impressive speed. She was small and agile, a childhood spent in the harsh conditions of the arid desert sharpening her instincts. She scrambled to open the door to her house, eyes wide in fright. It looked like a sandstorm was coming, the biggest one she had ever seen.

"Papa!" Yahizui shouted.

Amaya's fear had seeded into her, making Yahizui yearn for her father's calming violet gaze and kind voice. He was always in control of things; he knew what to do.

But as the crimson hair of Saito peeked into the small kitchen, Yahizui's naïve hopes were crushed. His eyes were wide, mouth twisted in a grimace, countenance wild. "

Yahizui, where's your mom?"

"O-outside, she…"

"There's no time!"

Saito stopped her stammering with a slash of his hand.  A roar echoed in the silence, and his pupils seemed to shrink to a needlepoint. He looked wild as if he was frantically searching for something. Finally, he found what he was looking for it in a drawer. It was a scroll and ink bottle. Saito hastily cleared the table, opened the scroll, and began writing with swift movements, creating spiked lines and spidery curves. He was done in seconds, slammed his hand in the middle of his design and Yahizui stared as the ink lit up.

"Take this!" he said, shoving the now rolled-up scroll in his daughter's tiny hands.

Saito's wide eyes were frightening, sweat gathering over his brow, red hair sticking to the back of his neck. But as he looked into Yahizui's wide, frightened green eyes, his breath froze in his lungs. There were trails of silent tears running down round cheeks as she cried silently.

He quickly fell to his knees and gathered her shaking form in his arms.

"Shush my sweet, it will all be okay…"

A loud crash swallowed his words followed by a guttural scream, but Saito hugged her tighter, covering her small ears.

Another roar, closer this time.

"You have to run, Yahizui." His voice was calm, nothing within it betraying the pit of anxiety in which he was falling.

"Run fast and far, don't look back. Whatever you do, don't look back. When you're out of the village, bite your finger and smear the blood on this scroll. Okay, love?"

Yahizui said nothing, simply looking at him with frightful eyes as if she knew exactly what he was hiding.

"Promise me?" he pushed, and Yahizui nodded once, her hands tightening on the scroll.

"Good girl." Saito's large hand ruffled her hair. He smiled, sure that she would make it out of this, confident that she would survive, prevail. Suna was close; she would find a home there.

My sweet girl, my lovely sweet girl… A stab of pain shot through his heart as he could feel his wife's life go out like a candle. His smile still stayed on, feelings buried deep within his heart. This was not the time to mourn. He will join her soon enough.

With one last desperate move, he hugged Yahizui's small body again and kissed the top of her head. "Papa loves you, always remember that."

"P-papa, will you and Mama come too?"

  "Yes love, we will. Just run, and don't look back. We'll be right with you."

When Saito moved back, all tenderness was gone from his face. Instead, determination shone, like an ever-burning flame that would consume all in its path. He unhooked the twin blades he had placed on his hips and stood to his full height.

"Stay behind me and run when I tell you, understood?"

"Y-yes…" Yahizui stuttered, the temporarily abated fear once more gripping her tiny heart. 

Saito was out the door in a second, moving faster than Yahizui could perceive. She moved with trembling limbs, breath shuddering out of her lungs with each gasp.

Yahizui would never forget the horrors she saw that day.

People were running, their voices filling the air in a cacophony of screams and movement. Fear was thicker than a layer of fog, infesting everything and everyone. Above them all, towering over the buildings in a grotesque display of torn bodies and tendrils of sand, a monster stood. Its maw was as big as a house, its body larger than anything Yahizui had ever seen in her short life. And behind it, swishing like the appendage of an angry King lizard, a spiky tail caused catastrophic damage. It smashed houses and crushed the people around it like they were mere bugs.

She couldn't breathe, the sand scratching her skin, fear overtaking her mind. I'm gonna die… I'm gonna die! 

The scroll in her hands suddenly felt heavy, and her father's smiling face rushed back. Yahizui searched for his red hair through the clamoring people, hoping with all her might that he was still alive, still out there.

The beast roared, pulling Yahizui's attention to it. And then she saw her father. He soared through the air like a bird, strange golden chains erupting from his back.

"Yahizui, run!!" his scream was like a slap across her face, and her eyes closed as tiny legs began moving automatically, running away from the beast, away from her papa.

She ran like never before. Faster than she had when racing with the village children, and with more desperation than when she'd been chased by a herd of vexed goats. Yahizui ran for her life, her vision blurry with unshed tears. The sand shifted beneath her boots and she curled her toes, the flexible sole answering to the movement. She barely righted herself when the reality of her surroundings finally kicked in.

Blood.

The streets were painted red, the sand turning crimson with rivulets of blood. Slowly, as if through water, sounds assaulted Yahizui's ears: moans of pain, cries of desperation, and pleas for help mingled with the roars of the monster that had caused it all. The air was saturated with the pungent smell of torn flesh and spilled guts, as the twisted, crushed faces of neighbors, friends, and village elders seemed to peer at her through dead eyes.

A hand. Delicate and slim, with a single golden band on its ring finger was peeking from under the crushed remnants of a building. 

It can't…no, it's not her!

The contents of her stomach came rushing, spilling on the sand below, mingling with the horrified tears that kept pouring across her cheeks and nose.

I'm gonna die here! M-mama…

"Run…" 

Her father's words rang in her head, and after what felt like an eternity, Yahizui finally found the strength to move. She had to run, she promised… she promised her father, and she always kept her promises!

Her legs were trembling by the time she finally got out of the village, breath coming in staccato gasps as her stomach contracted to spill contents that were no longer there. Yahizui didn't dare look back, too afraid that there would be yet another pair of familiar eyes staring at her, or worse, the yellowed, demonic orbs of the creature as it crushed her papa's form into something no longer resembling him. With trembling fingers, she looked at the scroll that was shoved in her hands.

He'll be right behind me... Papa will be with me, he promised, and he will bring Mama with him. He promised.

She bit her thumb until it bled, wincing at the pain, then just as he had instructed, smeared the blood on the scroll. It began glowing in her hands, the energy from it surrounding her body.

In a flash of light, Yahizui was gone.

Away from danger, from death, from the destructive force of Shukaku.

-Riruka-

Riruka was happy to leave the desert city of Sunagakure behind her. Although it was a significant market for her medicine and herbs, the Suna ninjas always looked at foreigners with mistrustful eyes, and the road to get there and back home was a constant hassle. What good was high profit for, if she had to give most of it away as payment to the ninja escorting her back home?

She sighed, her eyes looking out the window. Maybe it was time to mind her age and stay in Konoha. After all, business went well there too.

Suddenly, a spot in the distance made her almost jump. What was that? Her vision was sharp despite her age, and she was sure that she saw a shape in the distance… something that looked distinctively human and… small.

"Stop the carriage!"

"What?" said a young boy with wild features fang-like tattoos on each cheek. "Riruka-san, we are on a tight schedule here…we have to reach Konoha by tomorrow, we can't stop for every little thing…"

Riruka's hands twitched as she heard the boy's patronizing tone. It was this arrogance that made her dislike their kind.

"You look at me Inuzuka, and you look good! I employed you, and when I say we stop the carriage, then you better do as I say, or I swear to the Gods that I will have a serious talk with your mother!"

The boy in question went utterly white, panic creeping like ice in his veins. "Wha..! N-nno!"

  "Don't mind my teammate Riruka- san, we will stop right away," said his female teammate politely.

It took Riruka only a few moments to relocate the red dot she had seen in the desert and quite a few more to reach it.

The shinobi accompanying her were looking at her skeptically but said nothing of it. That is until the wind direction changed, causing Inuzuka Hige's nose to twitch. The brown nin-dog by his side gave a long whine in the same direction.

"Ume, bring a blanket, there's an injured person there!" yelled Hige over his shoulder.

Both shinobi ran toward Riruka, and they found her kneeling over a child no older than six. The little girl's face was sunburnt, and she seemed to have a few bruises but was otherwise unharmed.

"Quickly, give me water!" Shouted Riruka.

She took the canteen Hige offered and poured some over the child's chapped lips. What could have happened to bring this kid to such a state? There was a blood-smeared scroll next to her, but it was blank when the two chuunin escorting her opened it. How did she come here?

The girl's eyes opened slightly, her mind muddled by the sun and dehydration. Riruka saw her dark green eyes, but the girl did not seem to see anything. She mumbled something, her dry tongue slurring the words.

"It's going to be all right little one. You're safe now," said Riruka, hoping to ease whatever fears the child might have.

The girl said nothing as she looked at her with misted eyes. A tear spilled from her eye, then darkness seemed to envelop her once more.

-Yahizui-

Pain.

Everything hurt, like the time she'd had a nasty fever and had to sit in bed for days. Yahizui tried to open her eyes, but they were crusted over and the light pouring through the window was making her head pound. Mama… Her mother had the best medicine for when she was sick, and she always showered her with extra attention. She wondered: where was she?

Run. 

The image of a gaping maw flashed before her, demonic yellow eyes wide with hunger.

Promise me you'll run.

Blood… the crushed bodies of the villagers, the delicate arm of a woman she was scared to admit it was her mother peeking from underneath a ruined building…

Papa loves you…

Suddenly, the feeling of the sheets beneath her body seemed foreign, the humidity in the air much too high. She wasn't home. A shudder wracked Yahizui's body as a pit of darkness opened up before her, snapping at her legs with rotting teeth and yellowed eyes. They weren't here, she could tell. Mama, papa… they weren't with her. They said they would be right behind her, but they weren't with her, and Yahizui felt like she was drowning.

Tears started flowing freely from her eyes as she sobbed between great gasps of air.

"M-mama… P-p-papa…"

A presence moved next to her, and through a tear-misted vision, Yahizui could see the kind face of an older woman.

"There, there, little one…" she said, slowly moving toward her. "It's over now; you're safe now, it's all good…"

Her touch was soft, warm, and comforting. She smelled of herbs and tea, and Yahizui leaned into her, dissolving into tears and hiccups. The woman held her, rocking her body to and fro as she whispered reassuring words in her ear.

When exhaustion finally claimed her, Yahizui welcomed it. 

On the third day, the herbal merchant no longer knew what to do. Finally, she sought help from the only people who were famed to be able to get into someone else's head.

She entered the flower shop and saw the owner behind the counter, bouncing a blonde-haired baby girl on her hip.

"Noshima-san, good morning," she said in a calm voice.

"Yamanaka-san," replied Riruka, her eyes roaming over the beautiful flowers on display.

"Looking for something?"

She approached the counter and regarded the solemn-looking woman with serious eyes. "Yamanaka-san, I need your clan's help. A… child in my care, she has suffered much. She's retreated somewhere inside her mind, and I fear I will never be able to reach her."

Yamanaka Ara looked at the woman with wide eyes. Noshima Riruka was a respected citizen of Konoha, and although she was no shinobi, her late brother had been hailed as a war hero, and she was incredibly adept at making healing potions and salves that served many shinobi well. "I will speak with my husband, Noshima-san. We are greatly indebted to you for the fever potion you gave us last summer. It's the only one little Ino can stomach."

The stress lines that had appeared on Riruka's face over the past few days smoothed over as the woman smiled in gratitude. "Thank you, Yamanaka-san, I'm grateful."

Everything will be fine now. There was no better person to deal with this than Yamanaka Inoichi, no matter the fee or debt she might incur.

It was strange, but she felt attached to this girl, bonded to her. She had never been blessed with children of her own, and the war had stolen not only her family but also the only man she'd ever loved. Oh, how she had hated the shinobi for that; for their wars, their dangerous missions, and their penchant to pluck the loved ones out of people's lives. But with time the wounds had closed, and she got used to the idea that her work would be the only child she would ever have. Until now… and she wasn't going to let her go.

When Yahizui woke up that morning, she felt different. As if a curtain had been set over her pain, she woke up for the first time in days and felt something. She felt hungry… What she did not feel was the despair that had become her constant companion for the past few days. She saw the rays of sunshine and not blood. She smelled fresh herbs and tea, not rotten meat and spilled guts.

The same woman who had been at her bedside these past few days was there, smiling calmly and holding a cup of tea. Yahizui looked at her, and the woman's smile became brighter.

She smiled back, slowly, tentatively. She still felt sad, but there were no more tears, and everything seemed… stuffed somewhere in the back of her head.

"Where am I?" Yahizui asked in a raspy voice.

The older woman beamed at her and answered in a gentle tone. "You're in Konoha."

  "Where's that?"

"Fire Country."

"Where's that?"

  "Hmm…" Riruka began, her index finger touching her chin. "It's three-day travel from Wind Country, and about four days to Suna, the ninja village in Wind Country."

"Oh…" Yahizui paused, not knowing what to say. She knew of Suna, everyone in her village knew of it. But she'd never been anywhere outside her village, not to mention her country. She was far from home…

There's no home to come back to… home is… something pushed her away from that thought, like a hook pulling her in another direction. For a moment Yahizui was lost.

Riruka looked at her with keen eyes, her mind replaying Yamanaka Inoichi's words.

"I've done what I can Noshima-san, but now it's all a matter of time. This girl… she's seen some terrible things. Her whole village, family… they're dead."

"Dead? H-how?"

He paused for a moment. "… Sandstorm apparently, a very nasty one. Somehow, she managed to escape. Still, she's seen everyone she holds dear die. I've placed a barrier around the experience, allowing her brain to slowly assimilate the experience in her long-term memory, where the feelings associated with it will disappear. She'll be fine, but you have to make sure to keep her distracted for a while. The first few days after the procedure are critical."

Riruka looked at the lost look in the girl's eyes and quickly passed her a cup of tea. "Are you hungry?" When she nodded Riruka smiled. "I'm Noshima Riruka. You can just call me Riruka."

The redhead looked unsure whether she should give her name or not. "I'm… Yahizui."

"Ok, Yahizui-chan! What do you want to eat?"

Yahizui smiled, feeling more relaxed in Riruka's presence with each second. This was a good woman, she could tell. "Sweet buns!"