Kikiyo, a Naruto Adventure

Chapter 9: Escort the Bridge builder-part 2

In the morning I was woken up by the smell of rice and fish and that could only mean one thing. Father was cooking my favorite food, I sat straight up with a bowl and chopsticks in hand and spoke, "fish and rice yummy!" Everyone just looked at me, causing me to blush but father smiled through his mask and spoke, "You'll have to excuse her, she must have forgotten we aren't at home. We eat fish and rice on Wednesday mornings because it's her favorite." He was right I did forget for a moment that we were on a mission. I turned to see Sakura looking at me and was about to ask what she was looking at when she sulked with my answer, "Kiki-chan, how can you even look pretty first thing in the morning?! It isn't fair, I look like a troll when I wake up and you're gorgeous." I blushed a brighter red and nervously laughed as I rubbed the back of my neck. "I'm sorry Sakura-chan, I've never noticed. If it makes you feel better I always have awful morning breath." I could see our teacher nodding his head in agreement so I tossed the bowl at him, it missed, as he dodged it and instead hit Naruto. "Naruto, I'm so sorry!" I yelled and ran over to him. "It's okay Kiki-chan but you're right your morning breath is awful." I immediately got red in frustration and yelled, "That's what they made toothpaste for you jerk! I brush every morning!" I then went to my bag and grabbed my toothbrush and toothpaste and made my way to the nearby river to brush my teeth.

As I made my way back to the campsite, I got the feeling we were being watched but brushed it off when the feeling disappeared. When I arrived I put my stuff away and snatched the bowl of food my papa was handing to me. After scarfing down the delicious meal we began to walk in our designated course once again. After several miles, the feeling I had of being followed was getting worse when suddenly someone jumped out in front of us. We all immediately guarded Tazuna, "I'm going to need you all to step away from the bridge builder." He said in a terrifying voice. "I'm afraid we cannot do that. Zabuza." father said in a brave tone, the man laughed, "So you do recognize me, well I'm flattered, Kakashi the copy shinobi." as everyone looked at my father, I couldn't help but take my place by him. "Kiki-chan get back and protect Tazuna." "Sorry sensei I can't leave you to do this alone." I responded, keeping my eye on the enemy. "What do we have here? The beautiful, Princess Siada. A double prize today. Look I'll make you a deal give me the bridge builder and I won't take this lovely young lady and ravage her." I stiffened when suddenly I was picked up and in the arms of the enemy and a sword was to my neck.

How could he grab me like that without even a warning sign!?I was paralyzed with fear, the idea of dying had crossed my mind and not bothered me but by the way his free hand crept up and down my waist, made me consider the terrifying things that could happen before the sweet release of worldly suffering. I could see my father's mask moving indicating that he was talking but all sound was gone. Sasuke's eyes grew wide and then narrowed as he spoke too, again I couldn't hear anything. Naruto was just as angry, Sakura looked lost and terrified, a reflection of my face no doubt. I willed my body to move but I couldn't, when I felt the thin piece of fabric, of my open-backed shirt rip I knew he could feel me trembling. I watched as the shirt hit the ground in front of me leaving nothing but my bra to cover me. My eyesight started to blur, why have none of them made a move? I can't do this, can they not see that I'm terrified? I'm prepared to die, that's the life of a shinobi but not with my innocence taken from me by anyone other than the person I love. Almost as if they read my mind Naruto and Sasuke attacked with our sensei not far behind them. Zabuza threw me to the ground causing me to hit my head and black out.

Several hours later I awoke in a room with the faint light of an ending day shinning through the window. As I sat up I immediately reached for my head as pain surged through it. After administering a fair amount of healing chakra it disappeared. I noticed I had a shirt on and all at once images of what happened flooded my vision. I hugged my knees and cried, how could I have been so scared? No one has ever had to protect me before, why now? A noise from outside the room startled me and I jumped to my feet and grabbed a knife. I walked to the door and opened it only to pin a small boy to the ground causing him to scream and I saw the fear in his eyes. Oh those poor, sad eyes, I dropped the knife with a metallic clatter and brought him to his knees and hugged him. He tensed but hugged me back sobbing into my shoulder. Suddenly, I saw everything this boy had endured in his life, all the sadness and pain, I wanted to take it from him.. All of it.. We turned to see a woman, Tazuna and team seven watching us. We then looked back at each other and I wiped his cheeks free of tears, he blushed, "You have beautiful eyes miss." He said looking deep into my golden eyes. He touched my cheek which caused me to shiver, "Like the sun at high noon." I smiled and took his hand from my cheek and held it. "What is your name?" I asked him. "I'm Inari. And you?" He returned my question with bright red cheeks. "My name is Kikiyo but you may call me Kiki." I frowned at him, the pain still hidden behind his eyes. "You're hurt, let me help you." He looked at me and scowled, "No I'm not! I'm just fine, you didn't hurt me!" He looked at his lap, I placed one hand on his forehead and the other over his heart. "Sometimes the pain isn't physically visible but it can still be felt... In our memories and hearts." He shook his head and stood, "Don't tease me.." With that he ran away.

I stood to go after him when Tazuna stopped me, "He won't let you in, he won't let anyone in, it's a lost cause." I clenched my fists and turned to look at him with determination on my face, "A child is never a lost cause." With that I walked away, and looked for the boy. After an hour with no luck I returned to what I assumed was Tazuna's home and heard voices coming from the dinning room. "Why does she care so much for a child she just met?" Tazuna's voice rang out and my chest constricted. I used the 'all seeing eye' technique to see who was in the room, it was Tazuna, his daughter Tsunami, Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto and my father, Kakashi. When my papa spoke my chest tightened more. "Because she will never have children of her own." Everyone's eyes shot at him, Tsunami and Sakura looked sad for me and Sasuke looked devastated. "When a Siada girl is born into the head family, a jutsu is cast on her that prevents her from having children until she is at least eighteen years of age. But the caster of the jutsu is the only one who can release it." Everyone was silent, even in the farthest lands people knew there was only one of my clan left and that was me. "So she can't menstruate then?" Tsunami asked in a sad voice. "No, most girls start around eleven or twelve and here she is almost thirteen and nothing. We tried everything to break the jutsu and induce menstruation, doctors, her family's releasing jutsu, but nothing will work. She doesn't want children anytime soon of course but she didn't want to be a disappointment to her future husband. She was willing to do anything to have kids. She called herself a lost cause but I helped her to understand she wasn't and that neither was her potential for children. That is why she told you no child is a lost cause Tazuna." Sasuke looked at the table with a frustrated sneer and my father's eyes were fixed on him, "Now this jutsu does have its flaws for example, her elder sister, Yotuki, was discovered to have mis-formed sexual organs as a result of the jutsu and told she'd never conceive. The jutsu was lifted for this reason. Unexpectedly she became pregnant at the age fourteen, she was still pregnant when she died." Naruto and Sakura didn't dare utter a word. After I was done eves dropping , I walked out the front door, shutting it hard behind me, and heard Sasuke excuse himself from the table.

I made my way to the water front and began skipping rocks when I heard a deep voice from behind me, "Why didn't you tell me?" I couldn't bring myself to look at him. "It wasn't your burden to carry. I wanted to try and figure it out on my own." I skipped another rock a crossed the water, "Did you think I would look at you any differently than I do now?" Again I sent a rock flying, "You did, I saw your face as he spoke about it.. You were absolutely mortified." I hurled another stone. It was silent for a time but when he spoke my heart shattered, "What you call mortification I call sadness and it wasn't for me, it was for you. Children aren't a priority right now, for either of us. Stop thinking about others and think about yourself for a moment. My feelings won't change, I made you a promise remember? Everything I do, will be for the good of our future, you don't have to worry about the future and besides.." He stopped me from throwing another rock by wrapping his arms around me from behind. "Can I not have you to myself for a while longer?" I was at a loss for words. Such things were out of character for Sasuke but then I remembered his words from the other night 'I'll only ever talk this way to you.' And I smiled, his chin rested on my shoulder and I caressed his cheek with my hand, I still couldn't find the words to answer him so I settled for the easiest two.

"Okay, Sasuke-kun."