Stormy grey eyes squinted against the blasting sandy winds as they searched for a place to ride out the sandstorm. A tall jut of stone emerged through the haze of tan and Shizi huddled behind it with a small sigh. She tugged back the hood she wore and shook her head free of sand before flicking her ears clean as well.
"You're thinking of him again, Shizi-chan." The said girl rolled her eyes at Jingxiao's words.
"Is it a bad thing to miss my dad?"
"It's been two years, you said we can never go back. It does no good to reminisce your life away." The lithe neko turned her tired eyes to watch the sandstorm howl by a few inches away.
"Two years isn't my whole life, Jingxiao. I'm only seventeen I think I have some time to reminisce."
"Eighteen."
"What?" His chuckle filled her head at her forgetfulness.
"You turned eighteen two days ago." Shizi lightly hummed and stood from the shelter she took now that the small sandstorm had blown itself out.
"So it seems I have. Time to get moving again." She hadn't taken two steps before the feeling of being watched put her on edge. Pretending not to notice their presence, Shizi pushed chakra into her feet to keep from sinking into the soft ground. Bringing her hand to her chest, her hidden chakra puppet she placed during her pause burst from the sand to surprise her stalker and pin them to the sand. Quickly slamming down on the stalker, she ensured it wasn't a clone of sorts or a substitution before the chakra lion held its sharp claws to their throat with a loud growl.
"May I help you, stranger?"
"Yeah, I'm looking for someone." The voice seemed a bit familiar to her, but also different and strange.
"I can assure you it's not me, so leave me alone." She dissipated her chakra lion and turned to leave.
"I think you're exactly who it is. And frankly, my feelings are a bit hurt that you don't remember me." She turned towards the slowly standing stranger, ears dipped low and tail flicking with her irritation.
"What makes you think I'm the one you're looking for?" They stayed in a loosely hunched position to try and catch the breath that Shizi slammed out of them.
"Because he knew that you wouldn't stray too far from the Hidden Leaf and the Land of Fire. Haven't guessed who I am yet? Oh come on, kitty, must I make everything easy like a training exercise?" Her pinned ears flicked forward at the nickname she knew, one that only a dear friend would ever dare call her.
"Kankuro?" He finally stood fully upright, painted mouth curled up in a playful smirk beneath his signature cat-eared hat.
"It's been a while, Shizi. Why are you wandering around in the desert?" She pushed her long braid back behind her as she lightly laughed in embarrassment.
"Not sure if you know, but two years ago the Hidden Leaf was destroyed." Kankuro nodded to show that he did in fact know of it. "That was because of me."
"Reports say that it was a group of insane men trying to wield Jingxiao and lost their minds because of it. Don't think any mentions were of you joining in on their fun." They sat back in the shade of another jutting rock, the trees of the Land of Fire becoming hazy blobs on the horizon.
"Well, when I was still training with Kandahar he locked Gomon inside me."
"Gomon?"
"Hell's Wildcat. Much like the Nine-Tails Fox with Naruto, I was forced to live with a demon inside me. Jingxiao was my seal, and so whenever he's taken from me it breaks the seal and Gomon is released. So when that man took him, it happened. The idea of wielding Jingxiao in the first place was a terrible idea on their part- and an astounding lack of proper research- so he died off pretty fast. The entire village was destroyed because of me. Because I couldn't keep my demon in check." Kankuro nodded as he listened to her story.
"Well, that's a slightly different story than the one Sakura and Kakashi told me. They say that you got yourself killed and that's how he got out." Shizi shrugged at his correction, trying to ignore the pang if guilty sadness at both of their names.
"What's it matter? The end result is that I destroyed everything. So now, I just wander through deserts during sandstorms for fun. Why are you looking for me?" He lightly laughed and ruffled her hair playfully.
"I've had trigger sensors around this area for the better part of a year now. Kakashi sent us a messenger hawk telling us everything that had happened that day and how he woke to find you had left the village because you blamed yourself. He hasn't stopped looking, you know." Shizi blinked away the gathering tears at the idea that he never gave up on finding her.
"I figured he would give up after a while." Kankuro pulled a small scroll from a hidden compartment in his black clothes that he held out towards her. She lifted a brow at his mysterious scroll but all she earned was a soft smile and a nod down at the message. She hesitantly accepted and opened the scroll, lightly flinching when she recognized it to be Kakashi's handwriting.
"Greetings Kazekage Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro,
I am writing to you in hopes that it will one day reach Shizi should you find her before I do. Naruto and Jiraiya returned a few days ago, and he's been wondering where Shizi has gone. I was forced to tell him everything and so he has demanded to join in our search. Lady Tsunade is beginning to get suspicious of me, so this may be the last message for some time.
Many thanks,
Hatake Kakashi."
Shizi read over the message a few times to solidify the words in her memory. Kankuro sat in silent waiting, he hoped that this would change her mind and decide to go home.
"I forgot that Naruto was supposed to return soon. We were supposed to see who was stronger when he got back."
"Still can, we aren't too far from the Land of Fire, it's just a few days trip back home." She opened her mouth to answer but was instantly looking intently towards the trees to their left, ears pricked and twitching every so often. "Shizi?" She launches to her feet, Kankuro in quick suit.
"Don't you hear that?" He shook his head no and scanned the distance looking for whatever held her attention.
"It sounds like horse hooves, but the Land of Horses is almost a two week travel the other way. Unless..." She started to take a few bounding steps forward, stopped by Kankuro calling her name.
"Shizi! Where are you going?" She froze for a few seconds with one ear towards him and the other still focused on the distant pounding. Taking a deep breath, she called back to him with as strong a voice she could muster.
"Back home."
YOU ARE READING
Beautiful Monsters
Fanfic"The true measure of a Shinobi is not how he lives, but how he dies..." Shizi Yemao's pretty smile hides her secrets and her pretty eyes have cried too many tears. It's scary what her smile has come to hide, and she has gotten better at hiding the...
