The next morning Kokoro woke up early, and she lay in the bed thinking about everything that had gone on until now.
‘I wonder who I was. Whom my family was. Was I the pampered daughter of a rich Daimyo, or the poor, child of a beggar? How were my parents? Did I have any siblings?’
As she pondered these thoughts, she looked at Luna, studying her glossy coat, her large padded feet , and her vicious talons, that could kill a small foal with a quick swipe. Even as she saw these predatory aspects of the regal feline, she thought of the tiger’s intelligence, and maturity.
Then, she returned to her thoughts of her family.
‘Hmm. It makes me feel a bit lonely, not knowing who my family is. But, I do not miss them because I do not know them. For all I remember, I could have been a slave of some sort. But, I think that is unlikely. I wonder who that man was? Why was he trying to kill me? ‘
Then, Kokoro had a brilliant thought. ‘Oh! Maybe I could ask Luna later if she could find the cliff again! Hmm, no, she was lost when she found it.’
***
After a while, Gramps came into the room holding a ridiculously large bag.
“Good morning Kokoro. How does your arm feel?”
Kokoro stretched her left arm, and winced as it hurt a little, but decided that she could live with the pain.
“It hurts a little when I stretch it, but only if I do that. I’ll live. Arigatou for healing me, and thanks for taking me in. I suppose that you know of my ability, and the fact that I have amnesia? And also that I may be staying here for a very long time, possibly even years if I don’t find my family?”
The tiny man waved what she said off, depositing the bag on the bed.
“Yes, yes. Since you are staying here, I will need you to-”
Here he paused, opening the bag to reveal that it was filled to the brim with freshly washed clothes.
“-fold these.”
He quickly left the room, yelling “Thank you, o girl who will be living with us forever, and eating our food.”
Kokoro sighed, staring at the clothes woefully. No wonder Ryu was always so exasperated by the small man. He used the power of ‘guilt’.
***
As the days went by, Kokoro became more and more stronger. She spent the days folding clothes and doing other chores she could do from the bed. She would talk to Luna and Ryu often, and occasionally Gramps, who would teach her about medicine and different herbs.
When she spoke with Luna, she learned about tigers. Some of it was fascinating, and Kokoro could listen for hours together to that, but when it came to tiger history, it was a monotonous repeat of battle after battle, fought between rival clans. Even Luna agreed that that was boring, but Kokoro had to learn it al, since she was half tiger. Sometimes, Kokoro wished that the knowledge had come with the jutsu.
Kokoro always looked forward to her talks with Ryu. She had become extremely attached to him, and him to her. He would tell her stories about his teammates, and his missions. She learned that he was already a Jonin and that his teammates names were, Hana and Hiro. His leader was Kenji sensei.
Hana, she learned, was very smart and strong, but had a quick temper. Hiro was very cheery, and loved to make jokes and get on Hana’s nerves. Kenji sensei was jolly, but very strict when it came to training.
One talk with Ryu brang up the question of whether Kokoro was a ninja or not.
“I am a ninja.” Kokoro answered immediately. “I remember strategies and techniques, and jutsus., that only ninja would know. I was a ninja in training.”
Ryu thought about this information for a second and the said, “Then you will have to enroll into the Academy.”
“The academy?”
“Yes, the Academy. As you know, our village is a small village of the leaf. We live too far away from the real Leaf village, about a two days brisk walk from here. To train our ninja, we have our own small Academy like The Leaf Village, where we can send our children. We have a head of the village here as well, who reports things to the main village‘s head, the Hokage. His name is Ayashi, and I have already told him of your presence, and how you arrived. I did not tell him of your abilities, but we need to meet him as soon as you recover. He will asses your abilities and will decide whether or not to let you into the Academy.” said Ryu.
He reached into a bag next to him to pull an extremely bright pink and fluffy dress, decorated with a ridiculous amount of bows and ribbons.
“I have got you some clothing, as you probably do not like boys clothes.”
Kokoro stared at the dress, her mouth agape. After a few minutes, she managed to close her mouth and turned to Ryu saying, “It’s alright. Boys clothes are ok.” as she thought, ‘I have to recover quickly, if not for the sake of being able to move about freely, for the sake of being able to go shopping and protecting myself from extreme embarrassment.’
***
That night, Kokoro had a nightmare about her parents death, and woke Ryu and Gramps up with her bloodcurdling scream. They rushed to her room to see Kokoro thrashing about in her bed yelling, “No! Mother, Father, no!”
She had tears running down her face, and Ryu rushed to her side, and hugged her softly.
“It’s alright, Kokoro, It’s alright.”
She calmed down, and muttered something softly. Ryu lad her back down softly, covering her in a blanket. As he did so, he remembered doing that same thing a few years ago to another girl, and a flash of unbearable pain crossed his face, leaving as quickly as it came.
The next morning Kokoro had completely forgotten about the nightmare, which, Ryu and Gramps suspected, was a part of her past. They both wondered at the pain on the girls face, and her scream, and thought whether it was really such a good thing for her to remember her past which was undoubtedly painful, whether it was a blessing for her to forget.
The next few days went by quickly, and then Ryu left on a team mission. Time seemed to slow down for Kokoro who missed him, except for one particular night when Luna almost gave Gramps a heart attack by bringing in a dead and bloody rabbit, and leaving tracks all along the house. Two days after Ryu’s departure, Kokoro, who was now able to walk slowly, was weeding the garden with Gramps. As she weeded she asked Gramps a question that had been bothering Kokoro for a while.
“Gramps, I don’t mean to be nosy, but what happened to Ryu’s parents? You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
Gramps yanked out a particular stubborn weed, and started talking softly. “Ryu had a little sister, who would be about your age now. She was a cripple, her legs were lame, but Ryu loved her more than anything in the world. One night, their house caught fire, and burned down, killing all those inside. Ryu’s parents and his sister. Ryu had been out that night, and when he came back and found the house ruined, and his family dead, he almost went mad with grief. I took him in and took care of him, and gradually he recovered. This happened three years ago.”
Kokoro was saddened, but she had suspected as much.
***
Kokoro woke up a day later to find Ryu sitting on a chair next to her bed.
“About time you woke up, lazybones.” he grinned.
Kokoro’s only answer was to leap out of bed and to hug him.
“Aaah, let go! You’re choking me!”
After breakfast, Kokoro announced that she was well enough to visit Ayashi tomorrow.
“But first, I need proper clothing. We’ll go shopping today.”
‘Bossy, isn’t she.’ thought Ryu, looking Kokoro over. This was the first time he had seen her up.
She was wearing his shirt, which was clearly too large for her, and some of his shorts, which were almost pants for her. She seemed sturdy and strong, even though she looked skinny. Her hair was shoulder length, and black, and her eyes twinkled with something he hadn’t seen before. Life? Mischievousness? It seemed to be the latter of the two, and Ryu decided to keep his guard up.
***
Kokoro stared openmouthed at the sights all around her. They had gone down the hill from Gramps’ house and had arrived at the village. It seemed enormous to her. Stalls lined the streets, and hawkers yelled their prices loudly. As they were about to go into a store, someone made as if to snatch the purse Ryu had given her, so that she could spend it on clothes and any other things she might need. Kokoro grabbed the man’s hand, pulled him forward, and let go, the momentum carrying him into a wall. He slid to the floor dazed, and Kokoro grabbed the front of the man’s shirt with a burst of strength, and growled angrily into his face, “’Never’ steal. Honest work is better.” and flung him aside.
Ryu smiled impressed, and walked into the store with Kokoro. Big mistake. Girly things hung everywhere, and his mind reeled as he saw some things he wished he hadn’t.
“I’ll wait for you outside.” he croaked weakly to Kokoro, and literally dashed outside. Kokoro smiled, shaking her head, and walked around the store, looking for things that might suit her. After taking some underclothes, she wandered over to the shirts section. There were a lot of frilly things that Kokoro didn’t want and she frowned. Then she saw something perfect, and grabbed it along with some other clothes she chose.
She went over to the cashier and paid for her clothes. The lady saw what she was currently wearing and frowned.
“Sweetheart, there’s a changing room over there. You can change into the clothes you just brought over there, if you like.”
Kokoro looked wryly at the clothes she was wearing and said, “I’ll take you up on that offer.”
***
Ryu checked a clock anxiously. Where ‘was’ Kokoro? It had been 15 minutes since she had gone in. Wasn’t she done yet?
“Ryu! Hey, Ryu!” yelled an extremely loud boy behind him. He had short, messy, black hair that stuck out in all directions, and was wearing a Leaf headband. He was wearing casual clothing, a shirt and some pants, and was grinning and waving wildly. He looked to be about 15 years old, the same age as the girl walking next to him. She had long, shiny, red hair that was loose, and extremely pretty green eyes. She wore long, loose pants, and a short sleeved shirt. Both of her hands were bandaged till the wrist, and she was punching the boy irritably.
“Don’t be so loud, you moron!”, Hana hissed, punching the boy. “Hi Ryu. What’re you doing standing outside a girls clothing shop?”
“Oooh, Ryu you-”
This time Ryu punched Hiro, blushing furiously.
“Shut up! I’m waiting for Kokoro.”
“Kokoro?” asked Hana quizzically, raising an eyebrow questioningly.
“Kokoro is a 9 year old girl I found on the riverbank. She’s forgotten her memory, and has a pet tiger. She is staying with Gramps and me. She had a fever and broken ribs, and several other wounds when I found her, so she was bedridden for a while. She just got better, and is going to meet Ayashi tomorrow. Until now she was wearing my clothes, and she has come to shop for clothes. I got her this-”
And at that Ryu reached into a bag and removed the hideous dress
“-but she said she preferred boys clothes. I wonder why. I thought girls liked this kind of stuff.”
Hana and Hiro grimaced when they saw the dress.
“I think I know why.” Hana muttered, forcing the dress back into the bag.
At that moment, Kokoro stepped out wearing her new clothes and carrying a shopping bag. She hopped over to Ryu and grinned up at him.
“The clerk said that I could change in the store! Wasn’t that nice of her? How do I look?”
Ryu only stared. She looked completely different. Her hair was held back from her face on one side with a simple black clip. She had a black shirt which was long sleeved on the left side, and short sleeved on the right. Her right arm was bandaged until the wrist, and she wore long, black pants. Strapped to her right leg was a weapons pouch, and by the looks of it, it was full.
Kokoro chattered on, not noticing Ryu’s silence or his friends.
“ These are my ninja clothes! I also got a weapons pouch and its full! I can’t wait for tomorrow! I’ll pass the test with flying colors! Do you think Luna will like my clothes? I’ll ask her.” Then she noticed the two, and said, “Oh! Are you Hana and Hiro? Ryu’s told me all about you! Do you really have a short temper, Hana? ….Oops.”
Hana turned to Ryu, her eye twitching. “What?” she said in a low and dangerous voice, walking forward slowly.
As Ryu protested his innocence loudly, Hiro leaned in towards Kokoro. “Yep, she really has a fierce temper.”
After poor Ryu was able to convince Hana of his innocence, they all walked through the streets, Kokoro darting to stall after stall ooing and aahing over the goods. Ryu had to temporarily confisticate her purse when she wanted a ridiculously high priced lantern.
As Kokoro looked over some rings in a store, Hana, Ryu, and Hiro talked.
“Do you think she’ll pass?” Hana asked Ryu.
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen her fight, except for once, today. She threw a pick pocketer into a wall, picked him up, threatened him, and threw him to the ground without breaking a sweat. I was impressed.”
“Hmm,” said Hiro, serious for once. “ I think she’ll pass. Did you see the clothes she chose? Tough material so it won’t tear and dark, so she can camouflage easily. Very good.”
“All we can do is wait until tomorrow and find out.” said Ryu, watching Kokoro run over to him, her face beaming with excitement.
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