Usagiku, Yaki

[º•.Ki-Chan.•º]

Name:Usagiku, Yaki

Rank: Chuunin

Gender: Female

Age: 18

Village: Sunagakure no Sato

Clan: N/A

Appearance: Yaki is pretty short, by most standards, only standing 5'3; which is a few inches shorter then anyone she hangs around with. Because of her height, she looks rather small and petite. She has waist long black hair with blue-grey highlights. Her bangs have a layered look, getting longer as they go back. The sides are pulled back with a blue bow, though it’s more for decoration as stray stands still mask her face. While training, she can sometimes be found with her hair tied up into a tight bun, as her teammate has been know to pull on her hair if it’s loose. Eyebrows are thin and outline the top her chocolate brown eyes perfectly. They’re shaped to be rounded, thinning out as they reach the outside edge of her eyes. Her eyes themselves, Are a rich chocolate color brown. Because of their color, they were once called “chocolate ice”; though Yaki doesn’t care too much for them to be called that anymore. Because of their larger size, they give her a more innocent look. This goes well with her, as they’re usually filled with some kind of tears. Her nose is a little big, but because it curls a little at the end, it makes it seem smaller. She's got a natural rosy hue to her cheeks, not overly pink, but just enough to accent her high cheekbones. Across her nose and cheeks are splashed tiny freckles, hardly noticeable, but there. Her lips are rather large, and give her a pouty look. Her body is rather curvy, but not overly so. Her breasts aren't huge, but they are bigger then most of the people around her, her waist dips in, and her hips pop back out much bigger, due to the extreme muscle in her legs. Her legs themselves don't really seem to match her body, as they're more muscular then anything else.

Her clothing consists of white shirt with a very happy chibi bunny decaled over the left breast. Over this she normally wears a blue leather vest; a chibified happy bunny face dawns the back of this vest, decaling her “bunnyness” to anyone that cares to look. Around her arms she wears thin arm covering, these are use to cover up tiny scars from her summoning adventures. Her shorts are made of the same blue leather as her vest, but cut off to show a tiny bit of leg skin between her shorts and thigh high boots. The boots, however, are black leather. They’re steel toed with special bottoms so that she doesn’t sink in the sand of her desert home. These are more a weapon then a fashion statement, their length up her legs proves to help stabilize and protect her precious fighting tools.Around her neck she wears a leather choker; a shining four petaled flower popping on its brown strap

Special body armor: the only thing that can be considered body armor on Yaki is the normal body wrapping, and her thigh high boots. Nothing terribly special.

Personality: Usagiku is very soft spoken and shy. She's very sweet tempered and likes to be of help when she can be, going out of her way to help someone that seems distressed, even if it means trouble for her. She is pretty emotional, and is known to cry over, well, pretty much everything. She more prone to drop a few tears over someone else, but can be caught crying over her rather twisted family life. At home, she can be the exact opposite, cunning and rude to her mother; though this never leaves her house. Yaki is pretty hard to get angry, but her team mate and admirer Tatsuki can definitely do it. Talk of her father can sometimes get a rise out of her, but she’s now gotten used to the rumors and snide remarks about her family.Occasionally she can be fired up over someone insulting her fighting style. As mentioned before, pretty much anything can make her cry., from someone dying, to seeing a cloud cover the sun. Most of the people that know her have gotten accustomed to this, though, and tend to ignore it when she's bawling like a baby.

After her only friend,disappeared from Suna as a nukenin, Yaki became more withdrawn. She speaks only to those she knows unless it calls for her to speak otherwise. She still cries a lot, but no one knows why she does anything anymore, her motives are unclear and her movements have become slow and detectable. She’s now seen with more and more visible bruises now, since her sensei tries to knock sense into her. Trouble is, she’s too heartbroken at the moment to care about her ninja techniques much.

Jutsu Techniques:


Genjutsu:
hirameki yougeki no jutsu--Flash Assault Technique
Misutikiai--Misty Scream

Ninjutsu:
Shunshin no Jutsu (Kiri-Shunshin)
Kawarimi no Jutsu
Bunshin no Jutsu
Jibaku Fuda: Kassei
Kirigakure no Jutsu
Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Usagi--Summoning technique-rabbits
Taijutsu:
Kakyaku Usagi--Lapine legs
Hare roundhouse--Usagi maruitaku
Meitei-hiretsukan—Intoxication Heel
Doujutsu:
None
Hijutsu:
None
Kinjutsu:
None

Weapons:
Shuriken- Yaki tends to stash plenty of these away. She uses them frequently, more as a distraction, then as an actual weapon.

Kunai- Yaki only carries about four of these, just in case she happens to run out of Shuriken. Weapons are just not her thing, really.

Steel-toed Boots- Not just a fashion statement, these boots hold extremely heavy steal in the toes. The bottoms are made so that the sand beneath her feet can be evened out, and allow her not to sink. These are her main "weapon". They’re thigh high black leather, made thick for support and protection. They zip on the side, and for extra support, thick straps snap from one side of the boot to the other to cover the zipper.

Exploding Tags- Not that she actually uses them often, but Rie keeps Yaki with a steady supply of these. She's been know to use them for distractions, but other then that, she pretty much holds them in case Rie runs out before she can re-supply. she carries these now more for a reminder then anything else. She uses them on occasion, but usually they just remind her of a happier time. She’s been placing them next to the graves of the people she cares about, and oddly enough they’ve been disappearing.


Main fighting style: Taijutsu; Wind and Ice

Fighting strength: Yaki’s got mainly leg based attacks, which she and her friends lovingly call Usagi-style, or bunny-style. It looks more like a dance, or show then actual fighting, but the muscle build in her legs allow her to perform some very hard hitting blows. Granted, she does use her fists, but her main damage dealers are her legs.

Fighting weakness: If her legs are disabled in battle, she is very much an open target, as she's not very good at much else, so she takes care to keep her legs free and out of harms way. The simple fact is, she can be easily beaten by many simple techniques, if they work.

Team members:
Osamu, Tatsuki- One of Yaki's team members. She does NOT get along with him, and they're usually at each other. He actually likes her, but her dislike in him is pure. He's the strongest member and the thinker of the team, and can normally figure out a way to use the members in a battle to advantage quickly, though the other two rarely choose to listen. He’s cold to most people, and has been know to cause serious, if not fatal injuries while simply sparring. Yaki has never received such injuries, as he usually tries to pin her to something in order to spout off sexist remarks. He’s rude, and has a simply foul mouth, and most people don’t like to deal with him.

Masao, Hisoka- The other part of Yaki's team, Hisoka is rather high stung, and very paranoid. He's quick to jump into things, and rarely thinks first. He has the biggest crush on Rie, and only talks to Yaki in attempt to get closer to her. Because of his jumpy nature, Tatsuki loves to pick on the poor boy, and usually send the boy running in tears. Despite his wired brain, he has awesome techniques, and once convinced, can do more damage then even Tatsuki. Hisoka still speaks to Yaki, now more heartbroken that the girl he deeply care for has disappeared. For the most part he tries to avoid her, as he’s afraid Yaki will become unstable like Tatsuki due to her losses.

Ashikaga,Gennai- The strict sensei that was assigned to Yaki, Hisoka, and Tatsuki. He’s a drunken sexist, so Yaki catches a lot of hell from him. He often lectures the team on how women were simply made to cook, clean and childbearing; the three c’s as he calls it. Of course Yaki doesn’t agree, but she’s treated with an iron fist, and cruelty. At one point he could make her cry, and she’d always try to prove herself, but after an incident, she quickly changed her thinking. He can never been seen without a bottle of sake tied to his belt, and usually to see him sober means he just woke up.

Friends/family:

Eiichi, Nimoie - Yaki's mother. they were close when she was younger and had moved away from her beloved father, but once she got older they became distant and bitter to one another. Her mother decided her daughter reminded her too much of the husband she’d left, and now takes out all her frustration from her father, onto Yaki.

Usagiku, Atsui- Yaki’s father. They were extremely close when she was young, and he even taught her some of his mist techniques; not to mention he’s the one that had her sign the summoning contract. When she turned eight, her mother packed a few things, and dragged her away. She never saw her father again, but was told that he beat her mother, and told her she and Yaki were worthless to him. Yaki still has not questioned this out loud.


Other companions:
Haya The tiny Bunny Yaki tends to summon to keep her company. She's seen with this tiny creature a lot, and some even would go as far to consider her a pet to Yaki now. she's got a dreamy sort of personality, and can usually be found taking about her favorite veggies and foods. She’s fast, and because of this dawns bells on her ears. This confuses people, because they sound travels slower then she does, and they will normally attack where the bell rings, rather then where her actual body is. No one ever said size counted for anything.


Character history: Yaki's mother had always been from Sunagakure no Sato, but decided she wanted to travel when she fell for a handsome young man that waltzed into town one night. She ran away with him, and from what Yaki was told, they lived happy together for a long time. Yaki was close to her father, and showed extreme interest in his Ninja abilities from an early age. As soon as she was able to understand, he began to show her simple little techniques, and once she reached the age of five, he began to teach her. Her mother was unhappy about this, but Atsui believed his daughter could be a great ninja. When she reached the age of seven, he had her sign a contract with the summon usagis. Their last name was created for their ability to get along with these surprisingly stubborn creatures. Yaki quickly tried the summon, but wasn't able to call fourth any summon at all, her father encouraged her, and told her she was still young, and that her chakra may not have been strong enough. It was only two days after this, that it was announced the borders were going to be shut up, and that anyone not loyal to mist, and mist alone should leave. It was then things started to change, her father began to get violent; blaming his wife, and their tiny child for ruining his life. Because of their weak bodies and minds, he was held back from his dreams. Yaki was swept away; her mother rushed them off to her old village, knowing he'd never come to find them. Yaki never really dug deep enough to find out if this was the truth, but believed her mother from the start. The older she became, the angrier she got at her father for just throwing her away. She'd always thought they were closer then that.

Yaki had always known, and felt that she was a bit of an odd apple off the tree, but nothing was ever really said. People just tended to avoid her and act as if she were invisible. She didn't mind for the most part of her life, but as she got older, she realized how tiresome she must have become to her only friend, always wanting her attention. She had skill, and was pleased to graduate on the same day as her friend. The day they graduated was the day her life changed forever; and for the worse.

Though she passed without a problem, there had been a meeting to discuss her passing,her friend had blown up a storm while Yaki cried, and after a few moments, it was decided that because she had passed the test, she was allowed to pass and received her headband. The following day, as she and many other young people of the village sat to learn their assigned teams, Yaki was called out. She was told that her "troublesome" blood would be paired with the strictest sensei they had to offer. She naturally bawled, but things had been set in motion and could not be undone. Being paired with two boys she'd never really gotten to know, and having a hard teacher wasn't what bothered her, it was the phrase he had used to describe her; and everyone else with what they called mixed blood. She, soon found out what he meant by it, when Gennai sauntered into the door, and refused to take her because her father was from the mist. She'd known this of course, she'd spent seven years of her life there with him, but she didn't actually think that mattered now. She'd spent most of her days here, with these people! It was hard at first, but she got used to her sensei's harsh words. It was the rumors of her being a traitor, even a spy that bothered her. She felt relief though, that no one very important must have cared much, because she was left alone for the most part.

Entering the Chuunin exam was a pain for Yaki, and it took her teammates and she four tries to get past it. Tatsuki and she passed the fourth time though, but Hisoka has yet to pass. It was because of Hisoka that they'd never gotten far enough to pass to begin with. The first time through, Hisoka got high-strung and walked out on the test, mumbling about how his head was going to explode. Because of his panic, Yaki and Tatsuki had to leave as well, their first opportunity gone. Gennai sensei, of course, blamed Yaki for the incident, which she had expected. The next two times they failed were during the survival part of the exam, in which Hisoka quickly got scared and bolted, both times resulting in nearly fatal injuries. The fourth time they finally got through to the one on one battle, and thankfully Yaki's opponent was not as experienced as she was, and she won quickly. Tatsuki nearly killed the boy he was against, and Hisoka cowered and forfeit(Which Gennai sensei said was Yaki stealing his will). She'd finally achieved chuunin rank, but had not convinced her sensei she was worth believing in.

A deal was made. If Yaki could defeat his prized student, and her team mate Tatsuki, then he would acknowledge that she was worthy of being a ninja. She accepted, even though she knew Tatsuki was strong then she. The fact was, she'd been watching a group of girls perfect their new move when she wasn't training, and she'd managed to learn it too. She was certain Tatsuki would fall for it. When the time came for her to fight, the move had worked, but not so much to her advantage. Tatsuki's personality made him go a bit mental, and he pinned her to wall and began to forcefully kiss and feel on her.Her friend had been there to watch the fight, and had saved her friend, but in the commotion of him trying to pin her and her friend trying to save her, Yaki's right leg had been sliced open by a kunai. She'd lost the battle, and to top it off, was now being called rather sleazy names. Yaki vowed she'd never again use the hirameki yougeki no jutsu. It was too late though, Tatsuki had seen something that he wanted, and Yaki's days were spent defending her body from his now hungry hands. She'd made one of the biggest mistakes of her life. Though it died down, Tatsuki still wants her, and he makes it obvious.

Yaki didn't begin to use her summon ability to call fourth a furry friend until the pain hit her that she wasn't the only person in her friend's life. Her friend had been given teammates she adored, and she became quick friends with them. Her friend wasn't so cold hearted as to forget her first friend, but training did take up a lot of time, so Yaki was left to her own devices. She hated to admit feeling jealous and hurt, but she did. Yaki felt a little better after being introduced to her teammates, but her feelings just weren't the same. She seemed to become more clingy to ther her friend in their times together then she'd been before. It was around this same time that her mother began to give her the cold shoulder. Nimoie wouldn't even call her daughter by her first name anymore, and she would hiss out Usagiku like it was a poison on her tongue. Yaki didn't understand this at first, but soon came to realize that her mother too, was judging her on her father. Someone had been kind enough to explain to a teary eyed Yaki that she was the spitting image of her father in female form, and that looking at her made her mother remember her father's so-called betrayal. It explained a lot, but made Yaki loathe her father more. Her mother furthered to insult her daughter by arranging a marriage with a random guy she'd met, come to find out, her mother complained until someone accepted her offer to marry her beautiful virgin daughter. This pushed Yaki over the edge, and caused her to be withdrawn even more then usual. She'd not yet met the man, and her mother decided she wouldn't until the wedding day. Fortunate enough for Yaki, he refused to marry her while she was still a lower rank then he, so she's got time to try and wiggle out of it.

Once a happy, carefree young child, Yaki has grown into a shy, withdrawn, emotional pot ready to over boil. She still cries a lot, but now tends to keep it in until she's in private. The same village, same people, that once saw her as a cute kid, now turn their backs to her in fear, and misunderstanding. Her friend became a nukenin, and according to the anbu; was found and taken care of. She now truly feels alone; and has no one but herself to rely on. Though she desperately wants to be seen, she remains invisible to the people of Sunagakure.

[/size]

[º•.Ki-Chan.•º]

Role play Sample:
Mikki’s hand ran softly over the grave marker. It was strange to her that they’d make the place were the unmoving remains of the people she cared for rested. Delicate strokes across the name brought the tears into her eyes again. Why did it have to happen that way? Seiichi never did anything wrong. He was a child! How could anyone do this to him?! She felt the tears flood from her eyes to roll down her cheeks.

“Seiichi…I’m so sorry I wasn’t there to help you…I’m so sorry…I’m worthless.”

She seated herself and drew her knees to her chest. Beside Seiichi was Haru, and next to him? All the others that had died that day in the Sumiyaka complex. Rie’s father was still comatose, and recovery actually looked grim. Soon the ground would claim another body of another person Mikki knew. She stared at the graves. Since Rie left they had become some of her only companions; always there, always ready to listen. She liked to imagine that they were smiling at her, forgiving her for not being there, not helping. She had been so selfish that night, so hardheaded, so…jealous. If she had been there...maybe...just maybe.

Her body shifted and from her pouch she pulled a black and golden paper crane. It was a little smashed from her sitting on it without thinking, but it was still together enough for one to tell what it was.

“I’m sorry Haru, mine are not as good as yours. But I made this for you. I hope you like it.”

She balanced the crane softly on the marker and smiled a little through her tears and the wind blew makignthe crane twirl and dance, but not fall off.

“You’re…very welcome.”

She felt her mind withdraw. Felt her body slink back into the past. It felt like she was to blame. She had been so upset at her friend that she wished something bad on her. It was her fault. She willed it, and it had happened. She deserved to be the one forever resting here, not them. Slowly he seeped back into the past, her mind trying to remember those horrible days.



”I DON’T CARE. I’M NOT GOING TO GO WITH YOU AND YOUR NEW FRIENDS! GO TO HELL RIE!”

Mikki screamed at her friend, shutting her house door in her face. The nerve! Wanting her to go to an all night party so she could rub it in more that she had better teammates; newer, better friends. It had become like that now; Rie always wanted to be around them. She didn’t need Mikki anymore, didn’t want her. To top things off, she had come over and practically squealed over the fact that Haru had asked her to go. Tch, like Usa-chan wanted to hear that. How Rie had once more accomplished something Mikki never could. Deep down she knew it was silly to be so angry, but right now she felt like she had a right to be. Why could Rie get a date to the street party and Usa-chan just get a cold laugh from her mother? ”Ha, ha, ha! No invites? Not surprised. No one wants YOU to go, you’ll just ruin it.” Why wasn’t she good enough? Why was she always the one without?

“You always have to be better…always have to have what I don’t. Now you don’t even want to talk to me unless it’s to rub something in.”

Warm, angry tears fell down her face as she stomped into her room. Slamming that door as well. It caused the mud walls of her tiny home to crumble a bit, but right now she cared not if it fell in on her. She was too steaming mad to care. She flopped herself onto the floor next to a rather shabby pillow. This had been her bed for quite some time now. A small chest in which to keep her ninja gear on one wall; Stuffed animals lined up on the opposite. Her door on one wall and a small window on the opposite. From the left to right standing in her room facing the door you’d see the door, her chest, her window, then her beloved pile of stuffed animals. In the middle of the empty room was the one pillow and a rather new looking blanket. Mikki had hid the money from her mother and bought it herself; which she got into trouble for, but surprisingly got to keep the blanket anyways. She laid her head on the less then comfortable pillow and tugged the loose blanket over her head. She could just die right here and not care that she left anyone behind. Right now she could care less if Rie died. If anyone died. They could care less if she did right now, why should she feel any different?

“I hope you get yours Rie. I hope you cry too. I hope it hurts like it never has before, just like my heart does.”

She muttered as she covered her eyes with both her hands. She scolded herself for what she had said; sounded more like she was a jealous lover then a friend. She actually felt a little happy for her friend, finally getting what she had always wanted. It really was a combination of hurt and jealousy. But more because She had been wishing Hiiro-san would have asked her to go; but he never did. In fact it had seemed he didn’t even want to talk to her. She assumed he had better things to do, or people to ask. She wasn’t bitter about it at first…it was just that the day had been so bad, that she was ready to snap. Rie had just been the unlucky target when she came to her door cheerful about Haru asking her to go. She was angry that Rie just carelessly added “if you want” at the end of the invite, as if she didn’t’ really want her to come. Mikki wasn’t one to lose her temper. She wasn’t one to go off or yell like that. It was completely out of character and she knew it.

As the light finally faded, the sounds of the crowd got loud. Mikki was still cooped up in her room, now desperately hugging her stuffed animals. She had begun to cry harder now, feeling stupid for having stayed home while everyone else was out having fun. Even her mother had left to join the party, but not Mikki. She felt too terrible to go. She idly let her fingertips run across her body, making loud intake of air as the traced her bruises and scrapes. Gennai sensei had made sure that she understood how weak she was today. Upon defeating Tatsuki for the first time (and fairly, she might add!), he had beaten her himself. In turn, Tatsuki continued where Gennai left off; minus the fact that he took advantage of her beaten state to sneak a few gropes or fifteen. It had hurt, and she tried so hard to fight back, but it was of no use. Her body was so spent from trying to defend against the much older and better jounin teacher to have the strength to fight off Tatsuki too. She had taken out her bad beating and bad day on Rie. Now the last thing she needed was to run into Rie and ruin her night again. It was just more polite to stay home and wallow in her self pity. Much better to just stay out of everyone’s hair.

Feeling lonely, Usa-chan pulled her arm cover down, slipped one of the few kunai from her hoister and with a tiny flinch, and jabbed it into her inner arm right below her elbow. She made the hand seals, slower then normal, then used the blood to summon. As usual, the cream colored bunny popped up in a puff of smoke, her bells making tiny jingles and she snapped up to attention in front of Mikki.

“Whatssa matter Kiki-chans?”

The little bunny questioned, its face stretching up into Mikki’s, her nose twitching softly. Mikki explained to Haya how her day had gone, and how she had taken it out on Rie. She cried to Haya about how she hadn’t meant to be like that, how it was all just so much [ent up anger. The bunny scolded her, and feeling that Mikki had offended her, hopped a few steps away.

“You know better-better then that. You should never wish anyone ill-ill will-will. Words have-have power too, you know. “

Haya forgave Mikki almost instantly when the girl produced a small handful of bite sized carrots and for about an hour they sat and talked as the sounds of the ongoing party wafted into her semi cracked window. The smelled from the venders selling their wares made Mikki wish for some of the treats, but still she stuck her ground. She still felt a bit bad for snapping, but now that she wasn’t alone it wasn’t so bad. Haya was keeping her occupied with stories of battles that the older and larger summons had been called into. It surprised Mikki that even the summons had their own legends and stories, but it served to be an entertaining evening with Haya none the less. Still, Mikki found herself tired and curled up to sleep. Haya poofed, demanding she be called back as soon as Mikki awoke. She was rather please to be telling sorties, and wanted to tell more. Mikki agreed, and she soon fell fast asleep. Her dream was strange…

Her feet made soft crunches in the snow as she walked. Her legs were feeling heavy as the numbness from the cold had already begun to set in. She had no choice, she had to keep walking. She’d run into the complex soon, she had to. A hidden hole beneath a white disguise cause her to trip and fall forward, her body landing onto the cotton like flakes that covered the ground. She shivered and closed her eyes. The last thing she had expected this morning was to wake up and walk out into snow. This was the desert for god’s sake! It wasn’t supposed to snow here!

She had woken up, got dressed, and packed her bags before heading out; it was her usual routine. As she opened the door today, she was in for the surprise of a lifetime—snow. She’d walked around the town, but no one seemed to be about. Perhaps someone failed to give her the memo that it was going to SNOW today. She was grumpy from the cold already, when she heard laughter. She turned to see who it was, but instead found herself face to face with Rie’s little brother. Seiichi looked like he was screaming for help, wet tears running down his face. Normally Mikki would have helped with whatever he needed, but this time was different. He wasn’t moving or breathing. She reached a soft hand out to him, and realized as her fingertips ran over his cheek that was frozen solid. She felt tear well up in her eyes. Had he gotten lost? How would Rie take this? She shook her head and ran past him. This couldn’t be happening! I was as she ran that her eyes began to unclouded themselves. There were tons of people standing on the street and they were all frozen; terrible expressions of pain or fear on their faces. What could have happened and why wasn’t she frozen?
Her breathe was hot in the subzero air. She could see the mist it made, as the cold began choking her muscles making them refuse to move. She had to get up. She had to make sure the people she cared about were okay. She couldn’t let them all...end up like Seiichi. She felt her warm tears run down her cheek. Their warmth only lasting for a second as the chill froze the liquid to her face.

“Get up.”

She winced. Someone was alive! She pushed her body up, her legs wobbling a she tried to stand. It felt impossible; her body was too cold to take it.

“I said...GET UP.”

She felt the tears coming fast now. Couldn’t he see she was trying? Who the hell did he think he was!? She whimpered as she struggled harder. Part of her wanted to pretend he wasn’t there; maybe he was the one that had done all this.

“Humph. And I thought you were a ninja. I guess I was wrong, if you are too weak to even save your friends.”

She looked up, just in time to see her fathers face disappear into a snowy mist.

“Bastard! GET BACK HERE!”

Her body sat upright as her eyes snapped open. Her body was shaking, and her lips had parted to make a loud gasp. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest as her hand softly clutched over it.

“What a weird…dream. What could it have meant?”

She was always dreaming of Atsui. Always seeing him, but this...this was so strange. So many people frozen in time. So many scared and helpless faces. It was chilling, scary, and it made her long for a friend.

Feeling extremely lonely, she decided to call back haya, and did so rather quickly. The bunny popped back, and as Mikki brushed her hair out and re-clipped it, the summon began to mutter on about her stories again. It seemed the part was still going on, people still laughing and the smelled of wares and the voices of peddlers screaming their prices till danced into her window. Feeling like she should rally apologize, she knelt down to Haya, a gentle smile on her face.

Haya-chan, want to come with me to apologize to Rie-sama?”

The little bunny nodded her head and hopped up and down, her bell tingling with the slightest movement. Her eyes seemed to brighten up as Mikki started to stand back up, and her back feet pushed off the ground slightly, landing the small mammal onto Usa-chan’s shoulder. One up there, the bunny arranged herself where she was laying on her stomach, back feet dangling down Mikki’s back, and her front paws clinging to Mikki’s shirt in the front. Her little head was lifted as she spoke with extreme glee.

“Oh yes-yes! Lets go-go out and make some friend-friends! Rie-Rie always is nice to me!”

Mikki smiled and nodded. She felt better now that she had slept. Her wounds still hurt, but she felt like it would be a good time to apologize to Rie now. Both girls had had time to rest their minds and get over their anger, which with Rie it was always a good thing to wait for her temper to die down. There was no telling what would happen if you didn’t. She knew that if Rie was having a good time with Haru, that she’d be over her anger by now. Besides, she wanted to show Haru her paper crane. He was so skilled at paper works that she had asked him how he made his so flawless, he’d jokingly told her it was a family secret. He eventually showed her the easiest way to make a pretty crane under the condition that she had promised to show him her first one. She figured now was as good of a time as any to show him. Maybe that would show she really didn’t have ill will towards Rie and her teammates? She nodded. It definitely would.

Despite it being a time of celebration and fun, Mikki’s dream had given her the sick feeling that she needed her gear. So before heading even out of her room, she trapped on her equipment and double-checked everything. She had all her things and slowly she began to saunter to the door humming to herself. It seemed like it was going to turn out to be a good night after all, well once she apologized to Rie and…

BOOM!

Mikki held fast, but nearly toppled over. Haya screeched in her ear and hopped off her shoulder and into he window. It seemed odd that the fireworks would be so loud. She wondered if they had used too much gunpowder. She looked over her shoulder at Haya and smiled as gasps and screams were heard.

”I hate the fireworks. They always make it sound like something bad, even though..”
”its Rie-Rie-chans house! It’s smoking-smoking!”

Haya bounced in the windowsill, her tiny rabbit arm pointed out the window. Mikki hurried to the window and took in a deep breathe of air. This wasn’t right; something was terribly wrong and seeing that smoke made her realized the screams were not ones of joy. People were terrified.

Without another thought, Mikki dashed for the door, the tiny summon at her heels. She had to get to the complex and fast! Something was happening at Rie-san’s house and she had to help them! It was odd, that moment of realization. She had for a moment flashed back to her dream, the frozen people in fear. Had she done this? No. Certainly not! As she swung open her front door, the worried and beaten face of an older jounin stood there, fist in mid-knock.

“Chunin Usagiku?”
“Yes…that is me.”

Mikki felt her stomach drop to her toes. Her heart seemed to choke her as it slid into the throat as she looked intot he eyes of the older man. He was worried and terrified.

“All shinobi are needed at the Sumiyaka complex, there has been an inci…”

She didn’t allow him to finish. She roughly shoved him aside and ran as fast as she could, Haya at her side. She was so pumped at the moment, she didn’t care that Haya was still absorbing part of her chakra. She didn’t care. She had to be with her friend, she had to help.

Her breathe was heavy by the time she reached the complex. She could see the slaughtered people laying on the ground, and the screams and sounds of the battle raging inside. That is when it hit her. This was real[/u]. It wasn’t some training exercise, or some wacky mission with idiots to fight. This was a battle to the death, a battle that seemed to have already claimed more then its fair share of lives.

“Haya…go ahead and find Hime for me! Find me when you locate her!”

Without a single cord of disapproval, the tiny rabbit seemingly disappeared as she raced ahead to find Mikki’s beloved friend. Mikki felt her eyes tear up as she realized that she could also end up that way. Was she ready for this? Was she…prepared, strong enough? Yes! She had to be! Rie needed her right now! She raced forward, and to her dismay met stomach to kunai with one of the mercenaries.

The pain of the metal sliding through her skin felt as if something hot were boiling inside of her. Lucky for her, unlucky for him, it had missed doing much but nicking her side, and even more to his dismay, her brain didn’t stop to think before she began to kick him. Her legs were going to quickly, the moves coming so natural that she didn’t have to think about it. The smile on his face pissed her off. He was happy to be here killing her friend’s family! With one last blow, she could hear the fatal crack. His smile remained, but the man fell backwards, his eyes now forever staring at the stars above. She sat there, only for a few moments staring at his body. Had she really…just killed someone? She stepped closer and peered down at him. Her anger had made her kick harder, and there on his chest she could see the skin bruising. She must have broken a rib for the crack to sound; and she could only imagine what the shattered bone had done to his chest.

Not stopping to ponder on if she should feel guilty right now, the usually crying and sobbing girl raced off again. It wasn’t the time. She needed to be strong. She had to be. It was her job to be! She raced past many battles, not stopping to help. She had to find Rie. Stopping to help was only going to take up more time and she coul…

“Hiiro!”

She raced towards the red haired boy. He was slightly outnumbered and although he was ten times better then Ki-chan, she took the slight detour to help him. With more bone shattering kicks being sent out as the stretching and snapping sounds of his flower-like jutsu collided Mikki felt the hunger for more power, more people to harm. She WANTED to battle. She felt another presence behind her, and before she had the chance to see if it was someone on her side, she had jumped into a hand stand position, her legs wrapping around the man’s neck behind her. A loud pop sounded and she pulled her legs back to land on the ground; his body flying forward to hit a far off wall. She had broken his neck before throwing him, but did so for extra measure. She was angry. It was only at this point, as she watched the last of Hiiro’s enemies fall, that she realized she had not seen Tatsuki. Hisoka had been with his father before she detoured to help Hiiro, but Tatuski...he...was…nowhere? That made her fire burn brighter, her hatred grow like an overfed lion. She wanted to tear his heart out.

She could see Hiiro stepping closer to speak to her, his eyes filled with the same disgust for those evil assholes as she had, but there was something else there too, he seemed worried. Before he could get a single word in though, the tiny voice of Haya cut in front of him.

“Kiki-chan! I found-found her! I found-found her! Follow-follow me!”

The bunny dashed off, though not as fast as she could, and Usa-chan followed. Her mind was raging, and even as he tried to keep up with her bunny friend, she found herself bouncing off of wall to give jaw-shattering kicks to some of the mercenaries on her way. Like hell they’d get out with only a few scratches. She’d kill them all if she had to, she’d…

“Kiki-chan! Kiki-chan! Its Seiichi’s room!”

Mikki jerked her head upward to see the last of the debris falling from the young Sumiyaka’s room. Those BASTARDS! Seiichi couldn’t hurt a thing! Why would they do this!? She immediately wondered if Rie was okay. She knew unless something had happened to her, that Seiichi would be safe.

Please be with your sister…please…”

She begged the un-present Seiichi. She prayed he was not in the room. She prayed Rie had him. This made her run faster, but as she ran she realized that her chakra was diminishing rapidly.

“Haya! I need you to go. I need all my chakra!”

The rabbit didn’t question her summoner’s motives. She knew already that Mikki didn’t mean it as an insult.

“Yes-yes! Just find Rie-Rie-sama! You can do it Kiki-chan!”

As the racing rabbit poofed, Mikki felt a surge of energy. The chakra that Haya was draining became hers again, and with newfound confidence continued on her way to Seiichi’s room.

It felt like it took hours to get there. She had slowed down as she reached to blown open door. Her breath was heavy, and it felt like her body would collapse at any minute. Eh was covered in scratches, bruises and until now, she hadn’t noticed the shuriken that had lodged itself into her chest. She was too busy fighting her way to get HERE to care about what injuries she had. With a loud pop she removed the throwing star, a slight smile in knowing that her breast would scar but that the bleeding was minimal for what had happened. Still, she made her way past dead bodies. It was strange, it had become so quiet here. She felt her heart leap into her throat as one of the Sumiyaka lie on the ground, her face frozen in a look of utter terror. She’d seen that face. She’d seen it in her dream. Beside the dead young woman was a medical nin desperately trying to heal a batter older man. Mikki took no time in realizing it was Rie’s father.

”Oh dear…oh dear...no...no this...this isn’t right!”

She pushed past the bodies, her eyes filling with tears. She could hear the muffled voices of people talking in a hurry. As she got closer it became clearer…clearer...and clearer. She turned the corner and saw a group of ninja gathered around a body. It was so mangled that Mikki wondered why they were even trying to…

“Oh no…not Haru!”

She squeaked as she realized just who it was. She couldn’t bring herself to tear her eyes way from him. He was always so happy…so vibrant. Why...why was he laying there like that?! It wasn’t a funny joke! It wasn’t funny! He had to get up and stop this stupid childish joke right now! She felt the fear and realization hit her, as her eyes tore away to look at Rie. She was standing at the back wall next to another hole. Mikki took no time in joining her friend.

He’s gone, Usa-chan. He’s gone and they took him

Mikki couldn’t find any words. Her eyes just filled with tears. They’d taken Seiichi? No, it just...wasn’t possible. Her world seemed to tune out as Rie’s cousin closed in. his voice was low and soothing, but it didn’t matter. Mikki had the right mind to kick him in the gut for being so damn quiet. Shuji kneeled at Rie’;s side, as she slowly slipped out of consciousness. It couldn’t be like this. It just couldn’t! She pushed past Rie and Shuji and Began to walk into the cold desert. They couldn’t be far! She had to find them. Despite Shuji calling for her to come back, she moved on. Her body was weak, and the air was freezing her blood dead in its movements in her veins. But she had to keep going. She couldn’t let them have Seiichi. She couldn’t fail Rie.

She’d looked for hours in the desert before someone had found her. She had begun to crawl on her hands and knees by that time, her eyes still wide with hatred, with hope. She snapped at the men who had found her, threatened them if they dared tried to stop her from finding her friend’s brother. Dared them to touch her. It was all empty talk, and they still lifted her. She was carried to the hospital, where she spent little more then a few minutes being sewn up for a few large gashes. Seemed the mot of her problem had been chakra depletion, and with a few bites to eat she was well enough to go home. She had the right mind to visit Rie, to visit Haru, but a she saw the solemn look on Hiiro’s face as he sat in waiting, she decided to go home. She couldn’t stand to look at them. Not when she had failed them so horribly.
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[º•.Ki-Chan.•º]

She had locked herself in her room after that, not daring to come out for anything. She wallowed there, in her pity and self loathing until her mother declare that there was an announcement on the “the boy” waiting for her at the door. Mikki leapt up and raced to the door. She was smiling, she was so happy they had found him alive and…why did they look so grave? Why was Shuji looking at her like that?

”No…please no…”

Her voice was lower then a whisper. This was a dream right? This whole thing was a dream and she had to wake up!

”I’m afraid…his body was…”
”No! don’t say that! It couldn’t be him! It has to be someone else!”

She raced past him and out into the streets. She wondered around there for mot of the day, her eyes not looking up as she ran into anyone. Her brain was still trying to deny that it had happened. She knew she was going to be scolded for skipping practice for so many days, but he couldn’t’ care less. The Sumiyaka’s were the closest thing to family she had and she had failed them. She was worthless as a shinobi. And it sunk into her bones as she thought this.

It had only been a few days later when Hiiro had found her. Haru had died in his sleep. Mikki couldn’t stop herself from sobbing and despite being held in a comforting way by her crush, she still could not shake the feeling.

“I failed them both…”

She cried over and over again, before breaking free to head home. She couldn’t’ be with him. She couldn’t look at him. It was wrong of her to steal his comfort, when he too was hurting beyond compare. She didn’t want him to be hurt by her too. She couldn’t stand it. If she had not wished such bad tidings on Rie. If she had not…had that dream. If she had been stronger. They would still be here.

Mikki found herself dressed in an uncomfortable dress on the day of the funeral. Her mother had demanded she wear it as respect, though she didn’t think Haru or Seeiichi would care what she wore. She had just been too drained to fight wither mother about clothing. Clothing was the least of her concerns; she was more worried about her friend. The funeral had been a sad one, and even though Mikki was the one known for her crying she couldn’t cry. She felt anger rise up in her chest. It was an odd feeling forher, something she’d of never expected. She looked up, and saw Rie in the shadows, standing alone. She could feel Rie’s pain, she could feel the heat that was coming off of her.

When everyone had left, Mikki had stayed behind. She slowly walked up to the graves, and Rie came close to her.

When you get right down to it, life is like a story. A really long story, and each of us? We’re the chapters. You never know when you’ll turn the page only to find your chapters at an end. The end of a legacy…”

Mikki felt a cold chill as she watched her friend speak. Rie’s bi-colored eyes looked up at the sky, her face so plain, so…dead. It was an odd feeling. As Her friend walked away, Mikki knew. She felt it. Rie was leaving, and she may never see her again.

“I’ll be here…I’ll always be here for you. You’re...my only friend.”

She knew Rie’d heard her, even though when she turned around the Sumiyaka was gone. It was only then that she fell to her knees and cried. She cried for hours in that spot, her will gone from her. She had lost everything she’d known again. She was once again, all
alone.


Her eyes snapped open as an odd sound brought her back. The crane she had so delicately balanced on the marker was dancing again, the golden highlights on it looking as if fire had caught to them.

“Yes Haru-chan; I know you are with her. Protect her for me, okay?”

Se smiled and pulled a large stack of exploding tags from her back and placed them between the two boys. She knew they had been disappearing but she still left them there. It was what she always did.

“I’ll come back tomorrow. Maybe bring you some sweets Seiichi? Perhaps Hiiro-sama will come too.”

She heard a distant whirl of the sandstorm kicking up. She knew it was time to leave them. It was sad how people had seemed to forget them so quickly. So few people came here to see them anymore. As she stood and walked away, Usa-chan could wear she saw a pair of glowing eyes. She did a double take, and realized her eyes must have been playing tricks on her. What would have glowing eyes like that in Suna? Honestly, she was starting to go crazy.
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