Glassy Sky (A Naruto Fanfiction)

Flashback

"Father?" A young Yosuga yawned, sleepily rubbing her eye. Her father had woken her up in the middle of the night, as it seemed. She clutched onto the stuffed frog her mother had gotten her less than a year ago. They were her favorite animal.

"You must be silent, Yosuga." Her father hushed her, crouching down to her height. "Today is the day of your birth. You turn five today." Yosuga tilted her head in confusion for a moment before she gasped, smiling on elation.

"That- that means Yosuga can-" Yosuga cut herself off with a squeal, still making sure to keep quiet as she bounced a bit on the heels of her feet. Her father nodded.

"You will now start your ninja training." He stood up, walking down the hall. "Come."

Yosuga opened her mouth with a question on her tongue, but remembered that her father didn't like being questioned. They would be starting this early in the morning?

Boris led his daughter outside into the backyard where a small bunny sat near the center, nibbling on a carrot. Yosuga shivered as the cold autumn night air bit at her skin. The yard was filled with short-cut vibrant green grass, with small flowers of various colors here and there. A fountain stood in the center, just behind the bunny, along with neatly trimmed trees scattered around the field and a large cherry blossom tree in the very back. Bushes lined the sides while the forest started behind the cherry blossom tree.

"Yosuga." Boris turned to her. Yosuga looked up at him in curiosity. "Catch that bunny." She lifted an eyebrow before smiling and nodding.

"Okay!" She cheered, placing her stuffed frog on a nearby outdoor table and running into the small field. Laughing and giggling, Yosuga happily pranced around the field in pursuit on the surprisingly quick bunny. Weaving through the trees, the bunny tried hard to run away while Yosuga tried hard to catch it. Even then, she wanted to make her father proud, and she wouldn't stop until the bunny was in her grasp.

The sun had started to come up when Yosuga finally caught the bunny. She was panting and dirty. A couple leaves had found themselves in her hair, nearly blending in with her green hair. Still, Yosuga wore a wide grin on her face as the held the bunny in her arms, looking up at her father, who nodded.

"Good job, Yosuga." He patted her head, only making her grin wider. He dug something out of his pocket, then. Yosuga's eyebrows furrowed when she saw it. It was a kunai. She had never used one, but had read all about them and more. "Now kill it."

Yosuga's face dropped completely. She didn't understand. All this work to catch the bunny just for it to die?

"What? Why?" She wondered. Her father crouched down to her height again.

"Do not question me, Yosuga. You will kill this animal because I told you to. This is what ninja do on a daily basis. It is was we Shimizu are bred for. It's kill or be killed in the real world, so kill this bunny or die in its place. That's how it is." He spoke sternly. Yosuga wore a horrified look on her face. Boris put the kunai in her shaking hand, stood up, and walked into the house. "Do not come into this house until that bunny is dead."

Yosuga's mouth hung open as she watched her father leave. She looked down at the innocent bunny in her arms, her eyes flickering to the kunai. Swallowing hard, she slowly dropped to her knees.

She was out there all day.

Her father wouldn't let Takeshi visit her, and her mother couldn't bring her food. It was freezing, and all she had on was the loose sweater and shorts she wore to bed.

All she had to do was kill the bunny, and she could go inside and eat all she wanted, but she couldn't bring herself to take such an innocent life.

She looked into the bunny's eyes, biting her lip.

Take the innocent life to improve yours?