Rumors spread like wildfires of a woman soaked in blood. Orochimaru's new pet who could effortlessly wipe out entire armies in the blink of an eye, with a wave of a single hand. They dubbed her The Princess of Blood and War. But who was she really...
Unable to forget about Sasuke and Itachi, Kyozen once again went looking for them. She found them easily from the tree tops. This time both brothers were equipped with knives. Itachi was showing his little brother how to throw it more accurately. Sasuke released the kunai right at the perfect time and he landed his first knife on the target in front of them.
"Why do you play with knives?" She asked as she came into view from the bushes behind them, still barefoot and with leaves sticking out of her wild hair.
"They're not knives, they are kunai," Sasuke informed, as he turned to look at her with arms crossed. "And we don't play with them. We are training!"
Her eyes sparkled as she hesitantly but bravely asked, "Well, can I play with you guys?"
"I said we aren't playing, we're training!" he replied with a huff, arms still crossed. "Sure, you can join us." Itachi added, causing his brother's head to snap to him with a pout on his face.
From then on, Kyozen met up with the brothers often to pl-train, every chance she got. They taught Kyozen many things about their people, culture and village. She learned many things from them but remembering what her parents had told her, never told them about her and her parents abilities. Kyozen would play pretend ninja with Sasuke and Itachi, copying their hand signs and quickly learning them. Kyozen had a photographic memory so she only needed to see something once to learn it, proving her to be a quick learner. Even if Itachi couldn't, Sasuke came everyday to play with her and soon the duo were inseparable.
Just as Kyozen was learning lots from the boys, the brothers also learned many things from her. She taught them how to hide like she did and how to befriend the animals of the forest. As the weeks passed, Kyozen and the boys got closer and soon she began to feel just like their little sister. They trained, played, explored,and had picnics. Kyozen was a lot tougher than they first thought. She only occasionally fist fought with Sasuke, but she held her own and often won whenever they did.
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They tried to convince Kyozen to come back to their village with them many times because she never talked about her parents, but she refused everytime. Finally, curiosity got the better of her and she decided to check it out from a distance with them. The group climbed the tallest tree they could find near the walls of the village.
Kyozen's eyes lit up in astonishment. The village was enormous, bigger than she could have ever imagined it to be. She lived out of one small house, sharing a room with her parents, and before that, the previous place she lived only had a few other tiny houses. There had to be hundreds or more in this village. She couldn't believe her eyes. There were so many people walking in the streets and even some that were close to her size, just like Sasuke. She had no idea there were so many people other than just Itachi, Sasuke and her parents.
Suddenly, only seeing it from the trees was no longer enough to appease Kyozen's curiosity, she needed to get closer, she needed to experience the village for herself. She turned to the boys and shouted, "This is where you live?! Its ginormous! What are all those people doing down there? What's that smell? Why are there faces in the big rock over there?..." she instantly began rattling off question after question. As her excitement grew, the breeze around them seemed to grow, causing the trees to sway and leaves to dance in the winds. She understood now why the village was named The Village Hidden in the Leaves. As the group descended the tree, they discussed how to sneak her into the village.
Sasuke was sent in first to scope out the entrance to the village, he brought back a cloak and a old pair of shoes with him. She put on the cloak and shoes so she wouldn't stand out as much, and climbed onto Itachi's back. Kyozen had never worn shoes before so it took lots of help from Itachi and some time to get used to how they felt on her feet. The plan was to make it seem like he was just carrying Sasuke like normal. They easily fooled the guards who were stationed at the gate entrance. Once inside, they met back up with Sasuke and Kyozen began to explore this new, exciting place while safely in her disguise and her old but new-to-her shoes.
She bounced from stall to stall, stopping at each of the shops lining the streets looking at everything they had to offer. Soon Kyozen discovered the smells she noticed while in the tree. There were places selling different foods instead of items! Itachi explained they were called restaurants and offered to buy her something to try. There were so many things that smelled so delectable, how could she choose? Itachi ended up taking her to try his favorite dango and she instantly fell in love with the sweet dessert as she had never before had anything like it.
Sasuke was most excited to show Kyozen the great Hokage Rock, the monument of each of the Hokage carved into the side of a mountain. The closer they got to it, she began to realize just how big it really was. Kyozen had learned a little about the leaders of the village, titled Hokage, during her time training with the boys. They even climbed up the mountain and stood at the very top, overlooking the village and her home in the forest. She couldn't believe how small they all were, the trees and all, compared to the stone faces and how much bigger the whole world must be if this was only one village.
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Silently watching them in the background was a member of the secret organization of anbu ninja, Root. Members of Root did not report to the Hokage, only to a man named Danzō, who was a government official. Root only carried out the darkest of secret missions. It was rumored that Danzō had been one of the founding ninjas who started the war against benders and brought the idea of putting the prisoners of war into work camps, although his participation had not been proven. They watched as Kyozen and the boys explored the village, tracking their every movement.
As their time in the village came to an end, the group began to head back out into the forest, unaware they were being followed and unaware this was the last time they would see each other for quite some time.
