KEY

Chapter 1

I lay, cold, in my bed. Rain rattled against my glass window as the night drew on. I hadn’t slept well in days because of this blasted storm, also because I was awaiting the return of them. My heart skipped a beat when the thunder roared, it had scared me only because it was close, and loud. The faint shuffling of footsteps and a creaking of the door sent me bolting upright, I breathed shallowly and waited for them to come up the hallway, their footsteps gaining noise as they came closer, I squinted through the narrow slit in my door, trying to sense there presence then huddled into the corner of my bed, away from the dreary shadows. They had returned, the black fabric was noticeable in my dark room, they passed without noticing me, locked in a stiff position with my back facing the wall, huddled in a shadowy corner. I shivered, it was cold and late, they had finally returning bring some warmth and knowing that I was now safe, that I was not alone in this large place. So many times had I been scared to death by the simplest noise, the slightest creak, the faintest wind. But now as they return I feel protected from our enemies that are so desperately trying to find this place, to find the key that unlocks the door. I thought it was a mistake when their leader directed me from my small village to join them, to become this ‘key’ and serve them as a mere back up, like in a dance or movie. If the Shinobi of other villages had captured me this place and the people in it were doomed. Struggling to get that thought out of my head I lay back down, watching the lighting send streaks of erie light across the sky, mixed with a blur of wind and water. I closed my eyes, now at peace, and rolled onto my side, my eyes flickered open for a second to catch a glimpse in the flash of light, caused by the lightning, a pair of red eyes, they narrowed and vanished, I didn’t hear the owners movements but I knew that he had seen or sensed my movements when they entered. I slammed my eyes shut and pulled the blanket tighter over my shoulders, his stare was icy and thinking about it made my hairs stand on end, I pulled my blonde locks over my face to cover any emotions that may be showing, fear, relief, danger, whatever. One of them had said it was a true gift to have long, blonde hair like mine, maybe because he too had the same.

Craaaack!

I fell out off my bed onto the cold floor boards by the noise, landing on my side as the aching pain filled my chest, I pulled the blanket off me to see it was still raining and that thunder and lighting was the cause of my fall. I pouted and got up slowly, a little dazed by my fall, and sat on the bed, rubbing my side frequently to see if it would dull the pain. Finally I gave up on the process and stood up, the three quarter pants I had put on last night hadn’t done much to keep me warm, not to mention the thin long sleeved shirt I had pulled on. I sighed and rubbed my hands together, trying to get some feeling in my fingers. Those eyes last night had been the owners of Itachi, that must mean him and his partner, Kisame, will be here today. They must’ve been one of the first to leave from their ‘occasion’. I walked over to my door and shut it quietly, flinching when the door hit the wooden frame slightly, and locked it. I pulled my hair out of the ponytail I had wrapped it in yesterday and brushed out the knots. I slipped out of my pajamas and pulled on fresh clothes. navy blue pants and a cotton t-shirt. I shoved my feet into the dark blue sandels and pulled on the plain black cloak they had given me. I tied it up and hurried out of the door, the cloak was knee-length with long sleeves and a simple design on the left side, detailed in red the symbol was a six pointed star with the symbol ‘luck’, in Japanese, inside of it. Snatching my headband before leaving, I tip toed down the hall until I hit the secret door, pressing my palm against the sharp rock a passageway appeared silently. Taking one last look I ran out, through the dark hallway, lit by flaming torches, and into the day. I wrapped the headband around my neck and pulled my fringe over my eye, like one of them had shown me. I gasped for air and jumped when a lightning bolt hit the tree above the base, sending it crashing down. I jumped out of the way and landed lightly on a boulder, watching it sink into the water that flowed in front of the base, my blue eyes traced the waters edge and waited for the tree trunk to vanish. When it did I stood up carefully and jumped across the large gap onto the cliff face on the other side, clinging to the rocks, I easily edged my way up to the top. A kunai brushed past my left ear as I faced the thrower, it was one of them, like I had suspected,