A Home [Private, knock for permission]

[Ayame]

Spoiler

Until recently, Kurosawa Nataku lived in his modest 2-story family home.

Although it was a "family home", Nataku lived alone. His home was targeted by a gang of bandits, because there was something they desired. A silver katana, that had been handed down for generations. It was a very expensive treasure, so they had to have it at any costs. Why? Money.
13 year old girl with red eyes and black hair named Ayame was send to Sand to steal the silver katana. She had only one name and kept a secret the other. No one knew about it, or so she thought.
That mission of hers was a fail. Her first fail, that changed her life for good... maybe...
Long story short - Kurosawa Nataku caught the girl. Offered her help. She accepted the help and the name Kurosawa Ayame.

It was a long day for Ayame. These couple of days were long for her, actually. She was new to this village, new to these people, everything was so confusing.
Ayame was just wondering around the village as usual. It wasn't comfortable for the girl to be around the silent Nataku, so she would just wander around the village, until it was too late at night. Then she would go to that place Nataku called "home", go upstairs to her room and try to sleep. The nights were hard for the girl, cause there was nothing that could distract her from her thoughts. And even if she managed to fall asleep, she'd just wake up from her nightmares. She never had a problem with nightmares, until now. And every night they were much more horrifying from the last.
The night has come. Ayame wandered couple of hours in the darkness and decided to go home. It was late, and the nights in the desert were cold, so she couldn't withstand the cold anymore.
Every shadow bothered her on her way to Nataku's house. She was under pressure almost always, but at night the pressure was unbearable.

Ayame went through the front door. She looked around and once again everything was dark inside. There was no sign of Nataku here. Maybe he was in his room, but like every night before, she didn't checked.
She never knew the feeling of having a home, but never imagined that it would be like this. Bad. Lonely. Unsafe. Uncomfortable.
The girl went straight to her room. This room... it was more like a prison to her, than a bedroom. She got close to the window like she did every other night and looked for something suspicious. And as every night before she thought there was something suspicious.
"I had to return to them with the katana days ago. I'm sure they know I've betrayed them. Maybe they'll strike this night."
Her heartbeat was fast. Her hands were cold from the stress, even her chest felt heavy.
The girl laid in the bed and watched the window. Her tanto was right next to her - that made her fell a bit comfortable.
Every shadow, every sound from outside made her heart skip a beat. She felt like she was going crazy.
After a while Ayame gave in to the exhaustion and closed her eyes.

* Ayame was in her bedroom, but there was something on the window. She could only see a shadow that looked like a bird. At first she thought it was the messenger, but the bird didn't looked like the bird she sent. It looked more like a crow.
The shadow on the window started changing it's form. Ayame felt claustrophobic. At that time someone knocked on the door.
- The door!
Ayame opened the door just to see the guy who killed long ago, because he tried to leave the gang, with the bleeding wound on his throat. But he wasn't alone. He was holding by the hand... Ayame.
- What....
She felt something warm on her hands and looked at them. They were bloody and the guy lifted his hand.
- Join us...
- No! - screamed the girl and closed the door immediately.
Suddenly, a loud noise came from the shadow. Ayame looked that way and saw that the shadow was transforming into a human. The loud noise wouldn't stop and that was making the girl to cry in fear. She turned towards the door, but it looked like the door was melting, so it was impossible for her to open it.
- I've come to take you back, Ayame... - a voice behind her spoke. She could her it despite the loud noise.
Ayame turned around just to see the guy from the gang who tortured her. But he looked a little different. The other half of his body looked like a demon shadow.
They guy made one step and suddenly he was facing her. Their faces were so close, the girl could feel his breath. The loud noise became even louder. His eyes were so big and she felt that she was being devoured by them..*

The girl was screaming in her dream. She suddenly woke up in tears, screaming like hell. The window was open, and the strong wind was hitting it on the wall.
Ayame was in shock.
- NO! LEAVE ME! NO! NO!
She screamed her lungs out. While Ayame was trying to get out of bed she pushed her glass of water on the ground. She fell down on the ground and didn't realize that her right hand fell right at the broken pieces of glass on the ground.
The girl crawled quickly to the corner of the room and stayed there, crying and screaming at the nothingness to leave her, while her bloody hand stained her clothes.

 

[Kurosawa Nataku]

Dreams were an alien concept for the demon. It wasn't like he never let his body rest, but his mind never slept. When Nataku was sleeping, one of his other paths was out and about, moving around. Through the eyes of Kuro he was experiencing night in Sunagakure. His other body was just laying in bed, motionless. He was allowing it to rest, as that was typically best for keeping it in good condition. It was roughly 3 A.M.

NO! LEAVE ME! NO! NO!

A sound broke the cool night air back home. Nataku's body jumped up, eyes open and alert. He didn't sense any foreign presence, only Ayame's. But he could hear her screaming and the sound of glass shattering. He quickly bolted out of his room and threw open the door to her room, preparing for a fight. The door slammed into the wall as he stepped in and his eyes scanned the room. There wasn't anyone there, but Ayame was in the corner of the room, sobbing. With a closer look, it was clear that she was bleeding too. There was a mix of broken glass, water, and blood next to the bed. A nightmare? he wondered.

The window was open and he could feel a cool breeze. For a moment he actually considered that someone managed to get in and out the house without him noticing. He quickly dismissed that as impossible. He approached Ayame slowly with kind eyes and knelt down in front of her. "It was just a dream, you're safe now," he said soothingly. He cautiously extended an arm to touch her on the cheek. "Nobody is going to get you as long as I'm around," he assured her. He used his thumb to wipe the tears from her face. He was beginning to develop an affection for her, as a father would a daughter. It was an alien feeling to him, but in that moment it didn't feel strange at all. It just felt natural.

His eyes stared into hers for a moment before he looked at her hand. "Let me see your hand," he said gently, taking his hand from her cheek and placing it palm up in front of her.

 

[Ayame]

The girl realized she was in her room. Only Nataku was there, no one else. No shadow, no members of the gang....
"It was just a dream, you're safe now,"
"Nobody is going to get you as long as I'm around,"<i></i>
She looked at Nataku with her red eyes.
"A dream...." she thought... "A nightmare..."
Her nightmares were getting worse with every night. But that night... what happened? Why was Nataku here?
"Was I screaming?"
Ayame remembered. She got out of the bed, screaming. Went to the corner of the room, still screaming at the darkness of the room. Then Nataku came, cause he thought something bad was happening. She felt stupid. Stupid, but safe. And Nataku... he was so good to her. The girl never experienced that kind kindness. Or kindness from someone at all. She started to feel emotions that were unknown to her. Was it possible that her life will continue this way? She'd life happy with Nataku by her side? She doubted. But she didn't knew that life prepared for her something that was even more horrifying than she imagined.
She smiled sadly at Nataku.
- Mister Kurosawa... - the girl decided to be honest for once in her life. It was all or nothing, so she would always be honest to that scary guy - I want to make the things clear. I've never felt this way. These emotions right now... I can't explain them. It's like... I feel safe around you. Happy. I don't want you to get hurt. I would be sad if anything bad ever happens to you. It's like I don't want to lose you. It's strange for me and I don't know is it's good or bad. But... if you're only doing this, because I said I was an Uchiha and you think I have valuable things or someone is coming for me and you'd get rewarded... you're wrong. I lived in an orphanage and I escaped from it. I've never seen an Uchiha my entire life. No one is coming for me, except the gang. I have only planted memories by my father of my family. My mother, father and 2 brothers. I can't feel anything but hate for them. If they're alive - I'll hate them even more. If they are dead - then they'd have an excuse for abandoning me, but I can't help to think that it would be better if I died too. This...
The girl gave him her bleeding hand.
- This is nothing..
After that the girl would just ask him if he wanted to stay and sleep here, in the room, around her. Maybe that night would be better than the others.

 

[Kurosawa Nataku]

Ayame snapped out of it and looked at Nataku. She seemed a bit uncertain of what had just happened, but the realization was coming. After a moment, she became very honest with her feelings. Nataku gently took her hand and began healing it. It was a pretty minor injury in terms of what he could handle. "Don't be silly," he began, "I saw potential in you but it wasn't because of your eyes or money. It was in your resolve. You've seen things that someone your age should never have to, however what you don't realize is there's so much more of that going on in the world. There are even worse things out there, and as you get older you'll only experience more. You're more prepared for that than most." When Nataku finished that he realized it was kind of a dark thing to say to a child. He winced a bit for being so stupid.

"Look, you don't know much about me, and maybe that's why it's been hard for you to trust me. When it comes to money, I've got more than enough. I have no need for more. My career as a shinobi is on principle, not for the money. And when it comes to power.." his voice trailed off for a moment. He wasn't sure if he wanted to reveal this to Ayame. If she told anyone, he would never forgive her. But trust had to be a two-way street. If he wanted her to trust him, he needed to trust her. She didn't have a reason to betray him. Nataku let go of her hand. It was fully healed. His friendly brown eyes instantly shifted. They swirled into a rippled pattern, that of the Rinnegan.

Spoiler

"I have more than enough." Nataku stared at her for a moment, allowing it to sink in. Maybe she'd heard legends of the eyes, or maybe she had no idea what they were. Most people who had heard of them, had no idea what they really did. Nataku was going to briefly summarize it for her. "These eyes are the Rinnegan, the strongest of all the Doujutsu in existence. I will tell you all about them, but you must promise me something. You can never reveal this secret to anyone. If people knew I had these eyes, I would never be able to return to my normal life."

Nataku stared at the girl with his strange eyes. They were probably a bit intimidating, but that was okay. He wanted her to understand the kind of man he was, and what living with him actually meant. He also wanted her to understand that under his protection she would not be hurt. Nataku had never faced an opponent he couldn't take down. He was a prodigy since he was a child, and now he was even stronger. Mastering jutsu was just child's play to him. When he wanted to learn a new jutsu it took no time at all. He was pretty sure he had hit a ceiling when it came to power, and he'd yet to find a reason to try and become stronger.

 

[Ayame]

Spoiler

Important memory for story!

Ayame listened to Nataku carefully. She didn’t want to miss anything and the whole time he was explaining himself she was watching him right in the eyes with her red eyes. She always knew that eyes didn't lie. You could read a lot of things in man’s eyes and Ayame always payed attention to them when someone was talking to her. This time she was inspecting every centimeter of Nataku’s brown eyes. Not to see if he was lying to her, but she wanted to remember them like this – calm, caring, friendly. It was something in his eyes that made the girl to feel relaxed, like nothing bad would ever happen.
Nataku started to open up to the girl and that made her smile. He finished healing her hand and she looked at it, touched it. Before coming here, the girl use to treat her wounds like normal people did – cleaning the wound, bandages and time to heal.
- I never knew that people could heal wounds like this.. – she said – I mean… I did know that people had the powers to hurt, but not to heal. Some people from the gang use fire, lightning and other stuff. Some of them even have puppets, but we treated our wounds normally, not like this. Our leader though… he is something else. He is powerful.
This information could tell Nataku that the gang members weren’t just an ordinary bandits.
Ayame lifted her eyes to see Nataku’s, but when he showed his eyes her smile disappeared. They were intimidating indeed and the girl thought that if he wanted he could crush her anytime and It wouldn’t be difficult for him. Like crushing an ant.
Silence filled the room for a moment, while the girl was watching his strange eyes with open mouth.
“Woaaaaaah…” – was everything that came to her mind. He sure looked scary. It was the first thing she thought when she first met him. But now everything was different and she didn't want to leave his side.
Out of the blue, the girl started laughing. The dark house was filled with child’s laughter.
- Nataku! Your eyes look silly! Is that you super-power – to make your eyes look silly!?
Well… after all, Ayame was just a child and often she reacted as one. She kept laughing and when she stopped only her big smile remained. She smiled right at Nataku and her smile came from pure happiness.
- I’m sure I can beat you! But don’t worry! I won’t!
She kept smiling at him and that was the most honest smile she ever gave to someone.
- Nataku… you can tell me everything. And I want you to tell me everything. I want to know about you. Your deepest secrets, your worst fears, your greatest desires, your weaknesses… everything. I don’t know anything about my family. Just useless memories. But I don’t want you to be stranger to me like they are.
The girl got close to Nataku, still smiling and lifted her right hand just to show him her little finger.
- Kurosawa Nataku, I… Kurosawa Ayame, promise you to never tell your secrets to anyone. Never to betray you, never to abandon you, as long as you… never abandon me… and… stay here tonight... Yakusoku da yo! (Pinky swear; It’s a promise.)

 

[Kurosawa Nataku]

Ayame was surprised by the power of a medical shinobi. Despite everything she'd seen, she had never encountered one before. "Aye, most of the major shinobi villages have a Medical branch of shinobi that specialize in this sort of thing. They're often understaffed and not a desirable field to go into, as people believe that these shinobi aren't trained to fight. Sunagakure has one of the strongest Medical branches and I assure you, we can fight. You could learn if you want." He released her hand as it was now fully healed.

When Nataku revealed the Rinnegan, the atmosphere changed. Ayame was no longer smiling. After an awkward moment of silence, she eventually broke out in laughter. This confused Nataku, and he didn't know how to react. His eyebrows probably furrowed a but in frustration. She said that his eyes looked silly. Was this really happening? She gave a big smile and joking claimed she could beat Nataku. Then she said something that put Nataku on edge. She said she wanted to know everything, all of his secrets. On one hand, it made sense for her to say this. On the other, if she was really just there to get close to him, then that's exactly what she would say. Of course she would want to learn everything about him, so that it could be used against him later.

Then she offered her pinky finger as a form of promise. She promised a lot, as long as he would spend the night there with her. After a moment of thought, he returned the gesture and said, "I promise."

His eyes reverted back to their normal state and he looked at her intensely. He wanted to trust her, but a part of him still couldn't. He needed to know more about her. "Tell me, Ayame, how did you become involved with these people? What brought you to where you are now?"

 

[Ayame]

After Nataku returned to the gesture Ayame smiled. She knew he was doubting her, but that was normal. After all, the girl was a new person coming in his life and she needed to prove her loyalty to him.
"I promise" he said.
Her eyes glowed from happiness and this moment and his words she'd never forged.
But the question for her past got Ayame unprepared. She thought that Nataku would tell her some stuff about him. Her smile quickly disappeared, while realizing that she actually never told this to anyone. In order to explain him how she got involved with these people she had to start from the beginning. It was her secret and she didn't want to share it with anyone. That secret made her feel... uncomfortable.
Ayame slowly got up and went to the bed. She turned her head to the window and noticed - the moon was full. The bright moonlight spread all over her face and at that moment the only noticeable thing was her red eyes.
Silence filled the room. The girl moved her eyes at Nataku with uncertain look in them.
"In order to receive I must give and hope that he'll be honest..." she thought.
Then her eyes returned to the moon. It was hard for her to start, but it was all or nothing. So she decided start with the worst, cause after that... well, it was easy.
- Kurosawa Nataku - said the girl, watching outside the window - I... I come from another dimension.
Then she looked back at Nataku just to see his expression. She felt like everything was collapsing. Telling this to someone was like... accepting it. And she didn't want to accept this. This thing she wanted to forget, like it was just a dream.
-I told you that I am an Uchiha, raised in an orphanage. Well... I never actually had a family. I just have memories of them. All I know is that my family was in some kind of trouble. My father somehow put me into stasis and locked me in another dimension so I can survive. I know I have mother, father and 2 brothers, but their faces are so blurry in my mind. I don't know what happened, how did I got out, but I was found by a caretaker from the orphanage when I was baby. So I grew up in that orphanage with the thought that I'm messed up. I made some friends there, but they were taken away from me. I know they were adopted and lived a happy life, but I... missed them. I decided not to make any friends, and it felt better. I stayed there with the thought that my real family would show up and take me. Every time that door opened my heart started beating so fast, hoping to see my family. And every time it was a disappointment. No one would want me. They were scared from my red eyes. I was known for The demon child. But I didn't want some strangers for a family. I hated them. When I was 9 y/o the door opened again. And I didn't even bother to look. I didn't feel anything. I knew no one would come. That was the day I realized that... I shouldn't wait for the dead to save me. Yeah, they were dead to me. I should have been dead too. So I escaped. I was living on the streets, stealing food, money, clothes, everything useful I could sell. One day I saw a person with a coin purse attached on the back of his belt. I managed to steal the money, but when I turned to run, bunch of guys jumped in front of me. Turned out that I just stole money from important person from the gang. They gave me a choice - to kill me or to work for them. I gladly accepted to work for them – couldn’t be worse that the current position I was in.<i></i>
She felt exhausted, so the girl lay in bed, and turned to Nataku.
- Everything was ok, until something happened. I think the right hand of the leader hated me, cause I managed to steal his money and made him look like a fool in front of the others. He often beat me hard, yelling to me to use my eyes. I didn’t know what he was talking about, I used them. Then the leader came to visit me. It was strange for the people that he came just to see a little girl, so they started to hate me too. The Leader came to visit me often. He is a powerful person. He told me that he can make something great out of me, but in order to do so I have to start using my eyes. I didn’t believe him, so he made something… and I felt fear. I never felt so frightened and the people around me were frightened as hell too. He told me he can bring people from the dead. He told me that he’d take care of me, that my eyes were special and to hate the man who was beating me. To hate him, my family, to succumb to the hate and the anger and that would make my eyes work. He gave me the permission to kill the guy. I was frightened by him, but he always looked so calm and treated me good. I liked the feeling to be special to someone, but I know he wasn't honest. I know he wanted something from me. But still… it felt good, even if it wasn’t real. When I was 12 years old they made me kill a guy from the gang, who wanted to escape and live a normal life. I knew what was happening to the guys who wanted to leave, but... it was my first time killing someone. His blood... It was all over me. I was scared, but... I felt free. All my missions were success and I was proud. I managed to steal, sneak, learning important information, lead people to death... but you, Kurosawa Nataku... you're my only failure. I had to steal your silver katana. And I failed.
The girl showed her pierced tongue to Nataku.
- This is no ordinary piercing. The ball on the top is full with poison that could kill me this instant. This we have to use in case we get caught. With a strong squeeze of my teeth I could end everything. We all have pierced tongues... just so you know.
She closed her eyes, smiling. Ayame was in the place between reality and dreams and this night she felt safe. She could finally rest.
- I guess... I won't think anymore about using it... this night... stay here please... Otousan...

[Fell asleep, leaving topic]​

 

[Kurosawa Nataku]

OOC: Apologies for the delay.

Nataku was surprised that Ayame got up in response to his question. She walked toward the bed, then turned to look out the window. Her face was lit by moonlight, and her red eyes stared at Nataku. The atmosphere was so strange. One moment they were both happy, the next it was so serious. Her words made him raise an eyebrow. Another dimension? Before he had too much time to consider what that meant, she began to tell a story. As she spoke he could feel her sadness as if it were his own. The suffering she had to go through at such a young age. Nataku instinctively hated her father for giving her memories of a family she could never have. Maybe he was a bit jealous too, not being her real father, but it was a cruel thing to do to a child. She grew up knowing that she had a family that was taken from her. That's worse than just not knowing at all.

It finally made sense how she wound up with the gang, too. A single tear went down Nataku's face when she described having to kill someone. What she was put through, it just wasn't right. His sadness turned to anger. He wanted to find this gang and massacre them. But for now, he would do exactly as Ayame asked. He would stay with her.

"I'll be right here, so get some sleep," he said warmly, sitting on the side of her bed. He put a gentle hand on her head and began to stroke her hair. That poison, she can't have that. That's really not okay, he thought. He looked at her calm face and his worries seemed to melt away. With her, he actually felt a form of peace. For a broken man like him, this girl was the perfect cure. He would not sleep that night. Instead he would stay by her side and watch. His thoughts were going crazy, making him question everything. At one point, when he was sure she was asleep, he would use a jutsu to make sure she stayed asleep. He then carefully removed the piercing from her mouth. He would not let her continue to carry around a poison with the capability to kill herself. What if she accidentally bit into it? Maybe she would hate him for doing it, but he wouldn't allow it. He pocketed the poison and returned to just keeping watch.

It would be a long night, and he wouldn't sleep at all. Yet, somehow, it was the most restful night of them all.

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