Chapter Text
Maki never understood why her parents looked at her like that.
As the years passed and she steadily matured, she began to understand the looks on their faces. Disgust, resentment, and something else she has yet to pinpoint.
Oh, she thought one day while walking home from school. That's not love.
As she grew older and her intelligence increased, so did the resentment her parents carried for her. The 'discipline' they were so adamant on enforcing grew harsher and more extreme, to an extent where, when she looks back and remembers, she wonders how little Maki handled such hatred. Perhaps she could have told someone–could have reached out and been placed into the foster system. Anything was better than her parents, she figured.
It's an unfortunate thing how the heart clings, even to what kills it. Regardless of how painful and severe their abuse was, a part of Maki clung to their words like they were blessings, clung to their hits like she was thankful just to be touched by them in some kind of way.
It was toxic and slowly killing her, and though she had her fair amount of affections from her peers, it was never enough. What is the embrace of a friend in place of a mothers embrace? A friends encouragement in place of a fathers confidence? In any case, it was never enough.
Outside of that, Maki was relatively regular, not unlike many of her peers. She wasn't the only child with abusive family and she certainly didn't have it the worst. It was important that she always kept that in mind–gratitude and humility came a long way for her on the path of life.
When she was kicked off of her schools soccer team for consistent tardiness, it helped significantly to remember how fortunate she was to have something so small to complain about. At the end of the day, her neighbourhood wasn't incredibly dangerous, her house wasn't small, and she wasn't constantly worried for her life like so many kids around the world. She kept all of that in mind.
It would have been nice if her emotions worked in tandem with her thoughts. She didn't understand it back then, but no matter how grateful a bird in a cage is, it's still trapped in a cage. She should have allowed herself some grief, some complaint and some childishness. Instead, she suppressed it under the ruse of learning to find peace within–it took far too long for her to realize peace is only suppressed grief with no place to go. It can only take so many punches and insults before it becomes poison and leaks into her every organ and crevice.
That's not to say she had no solace–they came in the forms of literature and cartoons, in extracurricular activities. Maki rarely got the chance to watch any of her favourite shows at home, per policy of her parents to have a strict zero screen time and absolutely no electronics that she could text or call with. They never said it but she's pretty sure they were afraid she'd call the cops on them during one of their disciplining lessons. When she did watch, it was with her friends at school during lunch, huddled in a corner of the class and groaning at the stupidity of characters, usually from Naruto.
Oh, Naruto. His encouraging words, the way he remained strong despite great adversity, how he remained loyal and stubborn for his friend, even when the friendship was unrequited. Naruto, who remained human and whole despite the inhumane actions and words committed against him. Naruto, who believed in good and made people believe in good when they had forgotten it.
She aspired to be like him. To be so kind and loving that others can see your kindness, that others want to be kind because of how amazing you make it look.
She was forever grateful to the friend who introduced Naruto to her, and further grateful to the friend who downloaded episodes to her mp3 every week when the other friend had left. It was difficult hiding it from her parents, but they grew increasingly neglectful with every passing day, so it got easier gradually.
Alas, Maki had everything. Everything, most people would call it, looking from a superficial level. Thats excluding the warm embrace of a mother, the sweet caress of her fingers combing through Makis hair or a father to play catch with, to comfort her when times are hard. It's all shes ever wanted, but she sticks with everything for now.
Everything, for now, would have to be endless optimism and smiles. Maki without a smile was impossible to find, like a needle in a haystack, or an unsharpened knife in a restaurant. It taught her a lot–like how those who lack optimism are far easier to enrage, or how the wrong smile can be offensive.
Fights were inevitable but thankfully, Maki did know some martial arts–some, as in multiple self-learned and learned martial arts styles combined into one, thanks to the assistance of her favourite, kind and mindful librarian. It was obvious from a mile away that with a teacher like him, Maki learned to love fighting but to hate violence.
That's it. That's Maki, a young teenager with several struggles, but an open mind. A simple girl with little to lose and much to gain.
She wonders if that's why her life ended so abruptly.
A tree rustles above her, leaves crumpled under her like a broken mattress and wind whistling just enough to wake her up. Maki rouses with a soft groan, rubbing her eyes and slowly sitting up to find she is not in bed. It's completely dark around with nothing but the moon to light up the massive trees and crickets surrounding her. She feels comically small laying under the large trees.
When she moves to stand she accidentally kicks something small. By her foot, with light protruding from its screen, Maki finds her half charged mp3 and earbuds. An amused laugh slips from her lips as she reaches down to pick up the device, turning it over to check for any damage and thankfully finding none. She uses the little screen from the mp3 to light her way through the forest, avoiding thorny bushes and sharp rocks so she doesn't puncture her feet because of course she isn't wearing shoes. Who does she have to thank for at least granting her clothes long enough to shelter her from the wind?
"What the heck?" She whispers after walking for several minutes with no end. The forest seems endless and fruitful with too-tall-to-be-true trees and intimidating bushes. Where in the world is she? Did someone kidnap her? Did her parents sell her yet? Did–
Maki keels over with an arm tight around her stomach, a yelp of pain echoing through the forest. She collapses to her knees and muffles her yells of pain into the grass lest she attract a predator. Her arms tighten even further in self-embrace, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. After several minutes the pain gradually subsides and Maki rolls onto her back in relief, arms splaying out around her.
This isn't so bad. She tells herself, staring at the few stars she can see from under the tree branches. But what the heck just happened to my stomach?
She doesn't bother lifting her shirt to check, just blames it on her lack of breakfast. She rarely ever has breakfast, and her body is accustomed to that, but she does get the occasional stomach ache. Interrupting her thoughts is an approaching voice, clearly barking out orders to other people, urging them into Maki's direction. Quickly, Maki moves to her side and plants her hands against the ground in preparation to flee, if need be.
A masked figure practically flickers in front of her, gripping what looks like a kunai.
Okay, she has to be honest, she wasn't expecting this.
She sits there with wide eyes attempting to map out the features of the figure, only to completely forget about them and their silver hair when multiple other masked figures surround her in a circle. She gnaws on her lips and slowly stands, hands close to her face like she's ready to fight in a boxing match.
The silver-haired figure before her tilts their head, pockets the kunai in their grip, then looks back into distant trees and yells. "Lord Hokage! It's a child!"
Maki is almost offended. A child? She isn't that short.
A new figure joins the masked man, gray hair and goatee and holding a lamp in his hand, finally providing her with much needed light. It isn't until her gaze travels lower to the clothing he's wearing and she replays what the masked figure referred to him as that her lips part in bafflement.
"Hokage?" She mutters under her breath, staring up at the elderly man. Her gaze then wanders to all of the individuals surrounding her, each one having different masks but with the same idea. She blanks for a moment and slowly points at them, slack jawed. Anbu? Seriously? She really hopes this is just an animethon prank and not... something else.
Then she becomes acutely aware of how much shorter she is than this elderly man, just reaching his belly. Her hands are much smaller than normal, her hair shorter than usual and senses heightened. It's like she can taste the wind now, and everything it carries with it, which is pretty nasty. Someone here smells like cauliflower–she hates that. And that fuzzy feeling in her abdomen–what is that?
A finger pokes her forehead, rudely interrupting the thoughts that were definitely not stressing her out. The elderly man before her crouches down and smiles, prompting her to step back and consequently trip over her foot. She falls on her behind and stares up at the old man, still protectively holding her forehead.
He chuckles softly. "Hello child."
"Who are you?" And why do you look ancient?
He seems surprised that she's unaware but relents. "My name is Hiruzen Sarutobi. I'm the Hokage of the hidden leaf village."
Then come the rambling thoughts. Am I dreaming? In a coma? I was just asleep in my bed like, ten minutes ago! Or twenty. Who counts time anyways? Back to topic, I need to focus. It can't be a dream, I collapsed in pain like five minutes ago so I know it's real. God, what if this is one of those reincarnation stories? If I had known reincarnation was real I'd ask to be reincarnated into haikyuu or something, not a war-filled world!
A hand waves across her face. "Young one?"
Haha, Yoda.
Maki blinks rapidly and looks up at the man. "Hey old man, where am I?"
The third hokage smiles and winks. "You're just outside the village hidden in the leaves."
"Oh..." Her feet dig into the ground as she steps closer to the Hokage, failing to notice the way all the ANBU tense up. "How did I get here?"
Hiruzen hums and amusedly gestures to her. "I was hoping you could tell me yourself."
And then her words begin to pour out like a waterfall. "Sorry, but the last thing I remember is falling asleep and now I'm standing in front of a big boss man and his lackeys who are dressed weirdly but actually look cool which is a nice combination and I totally think the masks are a really good fashion choice."
Hiruzen laughs softly, amused more than anything, agreeing with the quiet few 'awes' from some Anbu. When she finally quiets down, he grasps her shoulders gently and quickly checks her over for anything suspicious. When he doesn't find anything, he pulls back. "What's your name?"
"Maki." She replies promptly.
"Maki...?"
"Just Maki!" The brunette grins, proudly placing her hands on her hips.
"Well Maki, do you mind if I ask you some questions?"
"Depends, can I ask you some?"
A fair trade, he supposes. "It depends on what you ask."
"Well first, how old are you?"
The elderly man can't help but burst out laughing once more, a wrinkly finger coming up to wipe a tear. "I didn't expect you to ask that!"
A mischievous smile curls the corners of Maki's lips. She's growing tired of standing around, so what better way to end this than to make him incredibly uncomfortable? It's a horrible tactic, which means it's probably good somehow too.
"Should I ask how many women you've dated?" It works. The hokage freezes and she thinks she hears a wheeze from one of the ANBU. She clears her throat. "I didn't think so."
"What kind of kid asks that?" Hiruzen grumbles, then clears his throat. "I'm 64 years old."
"Damn, you can still walk?" She blurts out before she can stop herself. "Sorry! Sometimes I just say stuff without thinking and I can't even stop my mouth from moving and then people get mad and then I get in trouble and then-"
"It's fine, I can assure you I've been asked far worse." Hiruzen reaches out and offers his hand. Maki looks at it suspiciously and makes no move to grab his hand until he explains why. "I'd like to question you somewhere more private."
They don't exactly give her any time to refuse before an Anbu with long spiky silver hair immediately swoops in, lifting her like a toddler and holding her to his waist. She laughs, a little out of surprise and a little out of embarrassment. Seriously, how small does she look right now?
"That was super fast, mister!" Once she looks long enough to recognize the man, who was one of her favorite characters in the show, she relaxes and allows him to carry her. Maki softly pats his hair and puffs out her cheeks in annoyance once it stands up again.
"Dude, that hair is pointier than the trees." She squints her eyes, not noticing the gushing of everyone else as while she huffs in annoyance.
Maki doesn't usually act so childish.
Abruptly, something shifts her attention away from the hair, much to the Anbu's relief. She looks around at all of the people in masks, her eyes blinking only slightly and her grip on the man tightening vulnerably when she feels something spark within her.
"What was that...?" She utters.
"What was what?" Kakashi inquires, his hearing sharper than ever--perks of being part Inuzuka.
The young girl struggles to put her feelings into words. "That tingly thingy inside my stomach. Do you have that mister?"
Kakashi pauses, like he's weighing the options of what she could be talking about, then settles."That's what we call Chakra."
No way in heck do I have chakra. Oh God--do I have to fight a huge villain or something? Please don't tell me I have the ten tails. I will scream and throw up.
"Chakra?" She manages despite the chaos in her head. Kakashi nods, then remains silent for the rest of the trek back to the Hokage office, no matter how many times she tries to ask him questions. Eventually she grows drowsy–it's likely a lack of sleep, what with her waking in the middle of nowhere late at night. For cushioning she lays her head on Kakashi's shoulder and shuts her eyes, giving into the sweet dark bliss that is sleep within minutes.
"That's got to be the cutest thing I've seen Captain do." One Anbu whispers to another who only nods.
"Lord Hokage!" Kakashi matches the hokages stride. He'll deal with his giggling comrades later. "She just felt a chakra spark."
Hiruzen frowns and racks his brain for possibilities. "The amount of chakra this young child has... It's overwhelming for her age. The only possibility I can think of is a tailed beast."
Kakahis's grip around the girl suddenly tightens, as if worried she'll disappear. "Wouldn't that disrupt the power balance between the villages?"
"Indeed... but that's only if they know, Kakashi." Hiruzen's gaze flickers to the young brunette resting. "I don't believe she's aware either."
It isn't long before they land outside the Hokage's office and enter, leaving the rest of the Anbu team on guard. Hiruzen grabs a few scrolls beneath his desk, then sweeps everything off the desk and gestures to the top. Kakashi places Maki down on her back, making sure he's careful not to drop her too hard, around the head especially. When she's laid flat against the table they slowly lift her shirt to reveal her belly button.
At first, nothing shows. Then, Hiruzen casts a jutsu and drifts his hand over her belly, grimacing when that all too familiar seal glows. Hiruzen's brows tighten, his palm hovering just over her skin before he drops back the shirt with a grave sigh. This girl is dangerous.
"I knew it," Kakashi lets out a shuddering breath, memories surfacing. "But, which one--"
"I don't know," Hiruzen pulls her shirt down and glances at the captain. "We'll figure that out. For now, after questioning, I'll have her live with a guardian who can take care of her and restrain the beast in the event that it does appear."
The Hatake already has a hint of who's going to be assigned, but he asks out of respect. "Who did you have in mind, Lord third?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi sits down in his chair and links his fingers together, gaze drifting over the seal glowing through the girl's shirt, then moving to the bright moon. The light only seems to accentuate his wrinkles as he quietly says, "Tenzo Iburi."