F A M I L I A R : B O O K T W O

Prologue

As I walked through the gates of Iwagakure, I hung my head in defeat. The Tsuchikage sent his two right hand men, well man and woman, to escort me back to Iwa. Kurotsuchi was the geezer's granddaughter and Akatsuchi was a big guy that I didn't know much about. I thought I could take them, especially with my kekkei genkai up my sleeve, but they were well prepared. I tried numerous times to get away from the two of them, but to no avail. Once we put enough distance between us and the Hidden Leaf Village, they bound my wrists together with chakra restricting chains to keep me from going anywhere. My hands were numb and my wrists were chaffed and slightly bloody from struggling to try to get free. It had been a long three days.

"Now, I better not hear a word from you until we get to the Kage building, okay?" Kurotsuchi sneered next to me. I just glowered at her from the corner of my eye. I was being treated like a fucking animal.

I scoffed as my feet crunched over the dry clay that I walked on my whole life as a child. I knew from past experience that in order to get to the Kage building, it was necessary to walk by the Yuna complex. I wasn't looking forward to that at all. This whole village was a reminder of how horribly my clan has been treated, and this moment was clearly no exception either. 

As we grew closer to the complex, a smell of ash started to grow strongly in the air. I furrowed my brow in confusion as we continued to walk. 

Was there a fire or something?  I wouldn't put it passed the Hidden Stone, after all the air here is so dry and caked with cla--

As we rounded the corner, my thoughts stopped dead in their tracks.

"You like what we did with the place while you were gone?" Kurotsuchi asked, punctuating her sentence with a laugh.

Rage, that I never before experienced, boiled inside of me.

If we were in Konoha, I would have turned around, summoned as much nature energy as I could, and punched her right in the face. But I couldn't. I couldn't even look away from the scene in front of me to sneer at her.

The entire Yuna complex, my entire clan, my home, was gone. There were no more houses or people, and the ground was covered in black soot and debris. One lone ball and chain was splayed out in the middle of what used to be the courtyard, left over from the pummeling. The stone front gate with the word 'Yuna' over the center was the only thing left standing other than a few stone door frames, and even our name was graffitied over with gaudy red paint.

My mouth hung open, completely in awe of what I was witnessing. My rage was replaced with sadness. Sadness for all of the injustice done to my family. Tears threatened to fall from my eyes as the memories came flooding back. 

No. No, I will not fall apart here.

I quickly swallowed my emotions and blinked until my vision was no longer blurred. I knit my eyebrows together, feeling my anger resurface.

"Let's keep it moving," Akatsuchi said, pushing me forward with his giant hands. I stumbled slightly, but stood up and forced my feet to start walking.

"What happened to them?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"Ah, ah, ah," Kurotsuchi scolded, waving a finger in my face. "I said no talking. Besides, the Tsuchikage will address that himself."

~~~~~

"Ah, you've finally brought her, have you?"

As we entered the Tsuchikage's office, I had to resist every urge I had to spit on his floor. I didn't realize that it was possible to despise such a little old man so much. I clamped my teeth together and glared at him as he sat in his chair with a smile on his face.