Mixing of Snow and Sand

Chapter 4: Cursed

Waiting for the other teams to finish was boring so I sat down with Artemis and Apollo against the wall. Gaara and his team were there as well but they refused to look in my direction.

Are you alright? Artemis asked as she rested her head in my lap. I stroked her fur, a source of comfort for me.

"I'll be alright. Just hung up in the past I guess..."

That boy, he is evil. I can sense it. His thirst for blood...it's not human. Apollo muttered glancing in the direction of Gaara.

"He's changed. He wasn't this way when we were kids. He would tell me about all the problems he had with others in his village..." I muttered and looked down at Artemis as my hands shook from the memory.

You aren't a child anymore, Mia. Whatever friendship you had with him, it's gone. Apollo responded. He always was strict with me, always wanted to make me stronger but he wasn't always right.

"You think you know everything, but you don't." The ice in my voice was enough to make them both look at me.

Mia...

"I know him better than anyone in this world. Know the suffering he endured as a child and he knows about mine."

Mia, calm down. Apollo continued when he noticed the change in my demeanor. The chill in the air becoming more and more apparent as my anger and sadness rose.

"You can call him a monster, but I'm no different. I have something inside of me as well that brought fear and dislike from people." Every word I spoke brought puffs of breath out in front of me.

Gaara turned finally and looked at me as the two other members of his team shivered. I noticed other teams starting to file in and I took a deep breath to calm myself allowing the air around to return to its normal temperature.

Mia, are you...? Artemis muttered.

"I'm fine." I started to get up as more people came in. I walked over to the middle of the room. I didn't pay any attention to the stares I was getting from the other teams as I was thrown into my own memories.

~

After I had fully recovered in the town near my village I went back to the ruins. Wanting to see if there was anything in my home that was salvageable. I got nothing for my efforts.

A growl came from the inner parts of the village, I followed the noise and was greeted by two wolves. A man stood in front of them with an evil smirk on his face. His eyes were slit like a snake's and pure yellow.

Leave this place! Haven't you done enough!? The wolf on the right growled.

"I haven't come here to mess with you, I have come for the girl. Where is she?" He stated, but his eyes trailed over to me, his smirk rising further on his face. "I guess it doesn't matter." The two wolves turned sharply when they noticed his gaze.

"Who are you?" I asked, my voice quivering with fear. I was only six then, never would I have imagined that this was the man who had destroyed my village.

"My name is Orochimaru. One day we will meet again, little Mia." He stared me directly in the eyes and I saw everything from that night. The pillage and ruin of my people, the mark he placed on my chest, a symbol of the thread that bonded us together. I dropped to my knees as he turned to walk away.

"What am I...?" I whispered. He turned once more towards me.

"A monster."

~

I was always going to be cursed, bonded to him until the end of time.

~

*five days later*

"Rise and shine maggots!" The annoying woman that tried to stop me from entering the Forest of Death called loudly. I opened my eyes slowly, rubbing them to adjust to the lighting once more. Artemis and Apollo stretched for a minute before we went to stand in the middle of the room once more. The Hokage was there with several other people. When he saw me among the finalists he smiled. Maybe he was happy he made the exception for me.

I zoned out a little as the Hokage spoke and before he could finish his little speech another ninja appeared, asking to speak first. I listened as the ninja said that there was going to be a preliminary round to narrow down the contestants. This round would be all out battles.

A screen came out of the wall behind the Hokage and randomly assigned the first match.

Mia vs. Dosu, flashed across the screen.

I looked in the direction of the sound ninja. I knew Artemis and Apollo wouldn't be helpful with his method of attacking.

"You two stay out of this, I can handle this one alone." I told them and walked over to the proctor.

"Are you both ready?" He asked as the rest of the Shinobi went up to the viewing area.

"Yes." We both stated. He looked like he was mocking me as the proctor told us to start.

"Such a fragile little girl, I'm surprised you survived all by yourself out there." I chuckled at his taunt. "What's so funny?"

"Such big words for someone who wants to live." I stated and moved out of the way of his attack. The sound hurt my ears but its full effect didn't hit. I put my hands together. "Blizzard Jutsu." The raging storm appeared once more as I blended into the snow.

"Do you think hiding in the snow is going to save you?!" He called out over the wind.

"Its not meant to hide." My voice echoed through the storm. I put my hands together once more. "Lend me your strength, Shei." The inner beast inside's chakra surged through me as my eyes changed, my hair turned to silver and the claws grew from my hands. I silently ran through the storm and slashed left and right at Dosu. I heard his mauled cries, him searching for some way to find me, but there was none. Soon the cries faded and I looked down at my hands that were covered in blood. My face I could feel splashes of it as well as I calmed the beast inside. I went back to normal and made the blizzard vanish. Dosu was on the ground, his body mangled from my vicious attacks. There was dead silence in the room as the proctor went over to his body looking for a pulse.

"The winner of the match is Mia." He coughed before speaking. I knew Dosu was dead. I didn't care to keep him alive. I had to let Shei take control sometimes or he would claw his way free anyways.

I turned and started walking up to the viewing area. I could sense everyone looking at me as I walked past Gaara's team and sat down against the wall. I looked at the blood on my hands, the urge to kill driving its way free. Artemis and Apollo sat beside me and I knew they were worried.

My breathing quickened as I felt sick, felt the bloodlust coming. Shei wasn't satisfied, he wanted more.

"Here." I nearly jumped when Guy spoke to me. I looked up and saw he was holding a wet towel in his hand.

"Thank you." I muttered and cleaned up my hands and face, hoping the lack of blood would soothe the raging beast.

"You've grown a lot stronger since we last saw each other, but..." He continued.

"But what?"

"You're not the same as when we met." I looked away from him.

"People change. I had lost my purpose in life, lost the will to live so I had to find my own. And I did." Nothing showing in my voice.

"Mia..."

"You don't have to pity me, I know what I'm living for now and that's all that matters to me anymore." He didn't say anything else just walked away. I knew it was disappointing for him to hear, but I didn't want to see it on his face.

I'm sorry Guy...