Chapter 117: Nanabi

-A long time ago-

She didn't know why everyone looked at her that way. As if she was a monster, no one wanted to talk or even approach her. This somehow made her feel lonely and sad.

Always alone, with no one around her.

She had no father or mother, she was orphaned from an early age. She did not even get to know the love of a mother, after all, she grew up alone in this cruel place known as Shinobi World.

She is just a five year old girl living on the streets. She is always dirty and the villagers look at her with disgust or annoyance. They treat her as if she were a dog. And yet, even when she is treated this way, she smiles and apologizes over and over again.

She always walks the streets of Takigakure every day looking for somewhere to sleep or to get food. Many times she was unsuccessful in her goals. She sometimes slept on the ground without having eaten even a crumb of bread.

This was a miserable life, yes, but she didn't see it that way.

Even if every night she cried inconsolably wondering why everyone hated her, the next day she woke up with a smile on her face, ready to get along with the people in her village.

This girl had no name, her parents never gave her one. She had no identity, she was no one in this world.

...

"What are you doing here, you brat! Go beg somewhere else!"

"I'm sorry. I'm going now... I'm sorry."

The girl ran away from that restaurant.

Sometimes the smell of food is nice. Other times that nice smell becomes sad, because she will never be able to eat real food that people in the village eat every day.

...

'What do I do...? I haven't eaten anything for three days... my stomach hurts...'

Every day is difficult for this little girl. Being hated for a reason unknown to her. She has always been a lonely child with no family, no home to return to. Even when surrounded by so many people, she feels strangely lonely. So lonely, always, with those looks of disdain that make her heart cry silently.

***

It's just another day in the life of this little girl. Just now she has just woken up, because a few seconds ago she was sleeping under a tree, covering herself with some rags she found in the trash of a clothing store.

"Cof... cof... cof..."

She coughed and covered her mouth with her hand. However, her eyes widened at the sight of blood on her hand.

'I see... I understand... my time is coming...'

The little girl smiled wistfully and a couple of tears ran down her cheeks, for a five year old girl death is something she should not think about, however, she realized that death will always come for all people alike. No exceptions, no matter what age, death will never rest.

With this in mind, the girl had an idea. Since she is going to die from some strange disease, she could steal some good food. Then at least she could leave after eating something delicious for the first and last time in her life.

So, without wasting any time, the girl ran, hiding in a few places so as not to be seen. That's how she quickly reached the back door of the restaurant from which she had been thrown out the day before.

She looked around the kitchen and there were some plates of soup and other things served. It looked like the food was freshly made, as the steam was coming out like a stream of flavor rising to the sky.

This girl was already drooling. This made her rush to take one of the dishes in her hands.

'Looks good... smells delicious...'

The girl smiled and placed the plate to her lips. The taste of the broth touched her tongue and small tears ran down her cheeks.

To her, the food was delicious. She had never tasted anything like it, never thought she could eat normal food and not leftovers from the garbage.

"You dirty brat, how did you get in!"

Holding a broom in his hands, the restaurant chef looked at the girl with anger very noticeable on his face.

The girl reacted quickly and dropped the plate and then ran away.

She quickly ran out into the street and tried to leave, but felt something solid hit her head. After that, a hot liquid poured down her forehead. She touched her forehead and then saw her hand. 'Blood...' Crimson red covered her hand. At the same time, the chef's screams of rage echoed throughout the place.

It only took a few seconds before quite a few people gathered around the place asking what was going on. The response from the chef was quick. This made everyone look at the girl with disgust.

"Damn brat!"

"Ouch!"

A solid object crashed against her cheek. It was a stone.

'Why...?'

She tried to smile then apologize, but instead, her face filled with tears as she saw everyone's angry stares. It was always this way, only this time... it would be much worse.

The villagers began to throw stones at the girl while shouting at her. Mostly they were saying that the girl was a monster, but she didn't understand this at all. She could only confine herself to covering her head as tears soaked her face.

[Kill them all...]

A voice echoed in the girl's head. A second later, she knew she was in a different place. In front of her, there seemed to be a giant insect staring at her with murderous eyes. The insect kept repeating the same words over and over again. "Kill them all..." However, this time the phrase changed.

"Pain... cause them pain so they understand your suffering. Don't let them hurt you, don't let them treat you that way."

The girl looked at the monster and a wall with metal bars came out from the floor. There was a paper seal there that kept the door closed. It was at that very moment that the light in her eyes went out.

The monster looked pleased. "Go on... break the seal. I'll give you my power... don't let anyone else hurt you again..." Approaching the door, the giant insect showed strange wing-like tails attached to its exoskeleton.

The girl simply followed the orders of the mysterious being in front of her and slowly approached the seal. She put her fingers on the paper and then....

"Stop, all of you!"

The girl was brought back to reality again by a mysterious voice. Her eyes widened in shock at the sight of that person in front of her.

He was full of blood and bruises. He was holding out his arms to stop them from continuing to mistreat this little girl. His gaze was quite serious, looking at everyone as if they were the monsters.

"Hey... Are you okay, don't the blows hurt?"

The girl didn't know what to answer.

"It's okay, don't answer if you feel uncomfortable. You're scared and I understand. Let me help you, okay?"

The boy held out his hand and the girl accepted this. She took the boy's hand and looked into his eyes. That boy was quite kind, he had black eyes and long hair to a little below his shoulders of dark brown color. In addition to this, he wore the bandana of a ninja and looked to be 6 or 7 years old.

"How cruel and cowardly can you be... Do you realize what you are doing! You call this girl a monster when you insult her and throw stones at her! How hypocritical can you be! Why don't you better find something better to do like preparing to help our village in the war! You are the monsters!"

The girl didn't quite understand what was going on. The boy was holding her hand as strength as he scolded the villagers.

'I'm dirty and yet...' She ducked her head ignoring everything around her. 'He is holding my hand...' She could feel a boy's hand. It was bigger than her hand, it seemed a bit rough because of the job as a shinobi this boy has. Also, it was somehow warm and kind....

"Let's get out of here. I'll treat your injuries, so you don't have to worry, okay?"

"Why... why... why...? You're full of blood... there are wounds on your face... why did you help me... why do you care about more wounds when you're worse off than me... why?!" Clinging tightly to this boy's hand, she cried, she cried like she had never cried before, after all, it was the first time someone had treated her in such a kind way.

In response to this, the boy smiled. He completely ignored the girl's complaints and then spoke, "My name is Shibuki, what is your name...?"

"My name..." She said wiping away her tears. "I don't have a name!"

"I understand. It's okay. Then, because you don't have a name, I'll call you Fuu. Is that okay with you?"

"Fuu... My name is Fuu?"

"Yes. I'll call you that from now on. Now I will take you to my father. He will be able to cure you easily."

The two seemed to be the same age. Two children walking hand in hand through the village. That was when Fuu's life really began.

...

-In the present-

The leaves of the trees were shaking vigorously. The sky darkened announcing a tragedy and, among all this, Kegon, Yoro and Fuu were running with worried expressions on their faces. They were being stalked by someone, someone dangerous who was watching them with evil intentions.

They quickly realized that bloodlust and began their quick escape in the direction of Takigakure, however, it seems that this is not going to happen. Since, they can feel that this mysterious person is behind them, chasing them relentlessly.

"Fuu... run away as far as you can. Return to Suna, the Kazekage will be able to help you."

Yoro and Kegon stopped and looked at Fuu seriously.

"You must obey us this time, Fuu. There is no other choice."

Both jounin disguised as genin frowned and gritted their teeth. They knew this was going to happen despite all the precautions they took. Even if they pretended to be genin, that wasn't going to work. No choice now, they decided to be the distraction so Fuu could return to Suna.

But that is something Fuu does not intend to do, for she will always be stubborn. She will not accept to abandon her friends.

"No, I'm not going to leave. Besides, how can we know if who is following us is bad? That doesn't make sense, don't be so paranoid."

"Fuu, listen to what we say, if only this once."

"That won't be necessary" A young male voice was heard. Immediately, someone came out from the bushes as if he was a silent monster.

The wind blew strongly, making the black cloak with the red cloud design dance to the rhythm of it. The same happened to the strips of cloth on this person's hat that hid his face. At all this, a faint mysterious glow could be seen in this person's eyes, yet his face was still a mystery.

Kegon and Yoro felt frightened, for what they feared now became reality. For a moment they prepared to fight, but Fuu ran to where that person was and extended her hand.

"My name is Fuu and I am from Takigakure What is your name and where do you come from? Although you seem to be from Konoha... Can you be my friend? My goal is to make a hundred friends. Sure, we can start by having some tea somewhere."

The mysterious person closed his eyes and sighed.

"I didn't come here to make friends, Nanabi-san. Although, if you want to know who I am so badly. My name is Asahi Toru, I don't mind telling you my name, for the dead do not speak."

Fuu's eyes widened in shock upon hearing that. This boy's voice was quite adult. Besides, that name quickly reminded her of that bath she had together with those girls from Konoha. Asahi Toru was the name of the boy Hinata and Ino are in love with.

Still, that could only be a conscience, there are people who have the same first and last names. No...

"I see... I understand..."

Fuu stood with her hand outstretched and staring at the ground not knowing what to do. He was undoubtedly the Toru that Hinata and Ino were talking about, as he had the crossed out Konoha bandana baked into his long red scarf. Her body trembled at the danger as she watched Toru pull a dagger from the sleeve of his cloak.

"Bastard!"

Splash...

Yoro stepped in front of Fuu before Toru complied. He covered himself with a kunai, but one of his arms fell to the ground causing a large pool of blood after the dagger cut.

In response to this, Yoro gritted his teeth hard and resisted the pain. He held the kunai in his one remaining hand and glared at Toru fiercely. At that same instant, Kegon ran to where those two were and from a scroll pulled out a katana. "Run away, Fuu! Quick-!"

However, blood splattered and Kegon's head separated from his body.

Fuu saw this. She watched Kegon's body fall as his head separated from his neck. Her eyes widened in shock and a fleeting memory flashed through her mind. Shibuki's words that day echoed in her head "This is Kegon and Yoro, they will be in charge of protecting and guarding you. Get along with them, okay?". A tear spilled at the same time she ran to hold Kegon.

In just the blink of an eye, she appeared and held Kegon in her arms. A large amount of blood was pouring out of his cut neck, mixing with the ground and staining Fuu's hands.

"Kegon... Yoro... Yoro... Yoro... Kegon is..."

Tears began to flow down Fuu's cheeks. Kegon could only feel anger after seeing this. Still, he wanted to stand firm in the face of this situation.

"Asahi Toru, better known as the Shinigami of Konoha. That's this guy's identity, he's wanted by his village and an extremely dangerous criminal. Fuu... go back to Suna... warn the Kazekage. I'm going to stay here."

Hearing this honorable proposal of sacrifice, Toru shook his dagger wiping away the blood left after cutting off Kegon's head.

Still, after what Yoro said, Fuu couldn't move. He felt weak...

"No one is going anywhere. Even if you intensely try to escape, I'll follow you and catch you."

Toru walked towards Fuu, but Yoro stepped between the two of them. He held the kunai and tried to stab Toru, but he easily dodged and kneed Yoro in the abdomen, who spat blood and fell to the ground.

Fuu couldn't even react, one of her dear friends died in front of her in an instant. Yoro was destined to die too. There was nothing she could do.

She saw Kegon's corpse and clenched her fists and teeth as tears ran down her cheeks. An indescribable rage invaded her heart and exploded in her brain, causing her to stand up looking at Toru with murderous intent.

As if it was something that happens every day, Toru opened his arms and smiled.

"Know the pain, feel the pain..."

The wind blew and Toru pulled out his second dagger as the wind blew away his hat. He listened to the sound of the wind like music and then looked up at the sky. Up there was Konan, watching everything silently, making sure Toru didn't die fighting the Jinchūriki.

"Oh..."

Fuu threw a punch at Toru's face, but he only moved to the right and dodged it. At the same time, Yoro joined the fight and tried to stab Toru, all to no avail, as this guy moved extremely fast and was also quite agile.

Yoro was cornered and watched Fuu cry and throw angry punches at Toru.

"Fuu! Obey me and get out of here! Get out of here now! Katōn: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

Connecting the seals of the jutsu with one hand while holding the kunai with his teeth, Yoro launched the fireball at Toru. However, Toru only raised the dagger and made a soft slash in the air. This was enough for the fireball to disappear as if it had never existed.

"Dansu gyakusatsu..." Toru appeared in front of Yoro and Fuu tried to stop him.

However, the sound of blood splattering made her stop. More blood covered Toru's daggers and a dying body fell to the ground without even being able to defend itself.

Yoro looked at Fuu as this happened. The blood on his chest was killing him quickly. There was no escape, Toru was too dangerous. Yoro smiled and said, "Fuu... please run away. Live... at least for this one time, obey what I tell you."

With that Yoro, even though he was dying, got up from the ground and held his kunai against Toru.

"I don't intend to waste my time" Toru appeared behind Yoro and at that moment, he fell. His eyes went out and his throat expelled a large amount of blood.

"Yoro... Kegon..."

Looking at the blood on the ground, a strange flame in her heart flared up. Tears ran down her cheeks and her body trembled at this tragic scene.

"Ah... ah..." Fuu held her head with both hands as she fell to her knees. "Ahhhhhhhhhh!"

A piercing scream echoed and a great wave of air pushed Toru. The ground began to split and there, in the middle of it all, three tails made of blood showed on Fuu's lower back.

Toru narrowed his eyes and sighed.

"Vermillion Mode, huh..."