"Kankuro, wake Suzume up."

Rain was trickling down the glass French doors in torrents. Lightning flashed across the sky which was followed by a roll of thunder. One of the rare instances of stormy weather had seized the village of the Sand.

"Aye, aye." Kankuro heaved himself up from the sofa and went down the hall to Suzume's room.

Temari knew that the house has gotten more jovial and happy despite the gloom of the weather outside. Gaara was cheerful, his face clear of the stressful and depressed shadow he'd been carrying around for a while. Kankuro was found humming to himself more often than not with a little spring to his step. Suzume was actually smiling now, though it was still only infrequently after the surge of smiles in the beginning.

And Temari... well, she couldn't deny the stupid grin on her face.

The Institute's entrance exams were in a week and the first day of school was the week following. Until then, there weren't any missions or paperwork to finish. They could enjoy the rest of their vacation.

Kankuro came back into the living room and Temari heard the sound of the shower. Suzume appeared with damp hair after half an hour and greeted her good morning.

Suzume reached into the cupboard and pulled out a can of cat food. "Hisoka!" she called, dumping the canned food into the feline's bowl. "Time to eat!"

Usually, Hisoka would come striding into the kitchen after Suzume's shout, but after a minute or two, there was no sign.

"Hisoka!" Suzume yelled again. "Hisoka?"

Suzume disappeared into the house to look for her cat.

"Do you think we should put extra water barrels outside?" Temari asked when the rain began to come down even harder.

"Yeah, that would be smart, jan," Kankuro tossed her a raincoat and pulled on his own. "Let's do this quickly."

When the door clicked closed behind them, Suzume returned to the first floor, worry now creasing her mouth into a frown. "Hisoka!"

A roll of thunder rattled her bones and her eyes were drawn to the downpour outside.

When Temari and Kankuro came back into the warmth of the house, they peeled off the rain coats and hung them to dry.

"Damn," Kankuro mumbled under his breath as he shook the water out of his hair. "That's some storm."

"It probably means we won't have rain for a while after," Temari threw him a towel, one already drying her own damp hair. "Let's go drink something warm."

"Let's."

The pair went back into the house, but if they had been paying more attention to their surroundings, they would've seen that one of the pairs of sandals were missing and the bowl of cat food still untouched.

_

Suzume ran around calling for Hisoka's name. The rain had already drenched her hair and clothes, the drops sliding down her skin. After her shoes dug into her toes and heel and gave her multiple blisters, she ripped them off.

Thunder and lightning orchestrated a dizzying song making Suzume disoriented. The ground shaking roars from the sky vibrated through her body and the lightning's flashes of electricity stole all color around her until everything blended into blinding white.

She shook her head when she almost ran into a brick wall. She slipped on the mud beneath her bare feet and, breathing in ragged breaths of air, continued running, calling out Hisoka's name.

Suzume slowed to a halt, when she heard voices up ahead. Casting her eyes down, she saw huge amounts of blood being washed into the sewers. She swallowed some saliva down her dry throat and forced her aching feet to run.

"Hisoka!" she called in a hoarse voice. "Hisoka!"

The blood went around the corner and when Suzume rounded it she was confronted with a traumatizing scene. The cat was lying in a pool of blood and shuriken and kunai were either sunk into the feline's body or scattered around her. Boys and girls were gathered around the dying animal, even more weapons readied in their hands.

Lightning burned the sight into her eyes. Thunder stampeded through the clouds.

"Is it dead?" one of the boys asked bluntly.

His friend was walking up to Hisoka and crouched down. "Not yet."

Suzume glimpsed the steel kunai in his hands as he raised it up, preparing to deal the final blow. He swung down and blood splattered into the air.

A flash of lightning.

"Wha!?"

"Huh?!"

"How'd she get there?!"

The boy whimpered when the girl's eye landed on him. His hand shook as he let go of the kunai embedded in Suzume's arm. "What's with that look?" Suzume's deadly gaze didn't falter. "You looking at me?!"

Suzume scooped up Hisoka into her arms and ran for it. She bumped into the Genin, making him fall on his butt and she pushed past the others. "Stop her!"

More shurikens and kunai whizzed past her, but more than three made contact with her back. She saw the kids leaping from rooftop to rooftop and made a tight turn into an alleyway to avoid them. Puddles splashed onto her already wet and cold skin as she sprinted. Her heartbeats and breaths filled her ears and she ignored the pain from the blades and her tiring muscles.

Time dragged as Suzume was putting one foot in front of the other and she was momentarily unrestrained to the earth. She was aware that the Genin had her surrounded. She sensed two on her left above her, three on her right above her, one jumping to the ground in front of her and lastly, one behind her. Her eyes suddenly lacking their innocence were fierce and sharp.

The next moment when her heel touched the ground and the water divided with the volume of the foot, time returned. She ducked down diagonally to dodge a kunai thrown from the front and it flew past to collide with the one thrown from the back. Her eyes blazed black as she surged forward and crows appeared with a flash of raven black feathers to claw and peck at the shinobi on the rooftops, rats crawled up the Genin behind her and a rattlesnake slithered around the calf of the one blocking her way. Screams and shrieks pierced the air and Suzume took the chance to speed out of the area without one glance back.

. . .

The siblings gawked in alarm at the sight. Suzume was drenched from head to foot and without shoes. Shurikens and kunai were sticking out of her like she was a human pincushion and her head was bowed. In her arms was a mass of blue fur, blood running out of the cat's body and trickling down Suzume's pale skin.

"Suzume..." Temari croaked, appalled.

"I couldn't save her," it surprised the shinobi how her voice was so calm and even. And underneath the cover of her hair and unknown to her siblings, Suzume's eyes were impossibly wide, her pupils were slits and the iris a savage red.

"She's dead."

_ _ _

They buried Hisoka's remains in the backyard. Kankuro acquired a small marble tombstone and carved the cat's ridiculously short life span, name, and a little inscription.

Once out of their shock, Kankuro had gently pried Suzume's hands away from Hisoka's body and took the corpse away. Temari had led a stiff Suzume into the bathroom to wash the blood off and dressed her wounds. Gaara went down to the basement to find a suitable cremation urn for the cat.

Now, they watched as Suzume sat in front of the grave with her arms wrapped around her legs and her lifeless eyes never blinking. The dead leaves of the maple above her showered down around her with the pounding heat rippling the air. Soon, the sun set, but Suzume stayed glued in front of the stone.

Temari had informed the Institute's Chairman about the continuing practices of the juvenile genin traditions and reasons why this would be detrimental to both society and the mindsets of shinobi, he immediately placed a decree prohibiting it.

But what did it matter? Hisoka was already dead.

Temari began to worry on the third day of Suzume's fasting and stubborn post in front of the cat's grave. What was strange was that a flock of birds of every desert species had perched in the branches or were hopping around the miserable girl, like they were trying to cheer her up.

And just as a hawk and eagle joined the congregation and Temari was about to go out and pull her sister inside, Baki arrived.

"We need to talk," he said to the room at large.

The siblings exchanged glances between the three of them. Baki took one look outside and at the girl in the middle of a mob of fowls and drew the curtains closed, blocking their view. 

Then, he faced them and gave them an uncompromising, cautious look that he always wore when he was about to talk about a serious topic.

It was a look that Temari and Kankuro were well acquainted with and a look they assumed that they'd never see again and obviously not accompanied by the very person that look had always been derived from.

Baki gestured to the sofa in front of him. "Sit," he told them, as if this wasn't their house but his own.

The three shinobi sat and their faces expressing their anxious anticipation at hearing what the adult had to say in such an introspective and sullen manner.

Baki heaved a wearisome sigh. "I'll keep this short and to the point. You can no longer be allowed to associate yourself with Suzume."

It took a moment for the siblings to let these words sink in. Shock couldn't define their reaction enough.

"I know you've-all of you- have created a sort of affection toward her and I know I don't have any authority over how you live your lives but it's for your own good..."

"Wait," Kankuro let out a hesitant chuckle. "This is going too far for a joke, Baki." The man lowered his head and shut his eyes. Seeing this action only let Kankuro's own faltering smile fall. "What...? You're being serious?"

When the Jonin didn't answer, the brunette bolted to his feet. "That's bullshit!"

"Kankuro!" Temari reproached and grabbed his arm. Her brother rounded on her.

"He's telling us to kick Suzume out! Our little sister, Temari!" he returned to glower down at the man. "How can you even think that?! Have you gone mad?!"

"I agree!" the blonde's grip tightened and she twirled him around again to face her. "But keep your voice down!" 

"She's not your little sister."

This sentence let a chill plunge into the room. All three pairs of eyes that reminded Baki of his closest friends locked onto him with venom. But he didn't back down. He didn't back down even when Rasa kicked the coffee table to the side in order to get to him and lift him out of the chair by the grip on his collar. He didn't back down even when Yashamaru began to yell at him from the top of his lungs and when Karura glared at him dangerously from her seat on the couch. He wanted to protect them for their sake as well.

"How could you say that?!" Kankuro demanded, shaking Baki by his grasp on the man's shirt. "Suzume is and always will be family!"

"We can say the same for you, Baki!" Temari thundered from behind her brother. "What makes you and her any different?!"

"Why should we kick her out?! What reason would we have to abandon her?!"

"THAT CHILD HAS BECOME YOUR WEAKNESS!" Baki's roar silenced them.

Kankuro's voice died in his throat and Temari was frozen in her place. The smiling picture of Suzume on the shelf seemed to darken.

"That's the difference," Baki continued as Kankuro's hands slipped off of his shirt. "That's the reason."

"You've become too sentimental, you've forgotten what you are," Baki said. "You're shinobi." His voice became harsher. "Love is weakness."

"If she was taken hostage, would you take even a second to weigh her life with yours?" he asked through the silence. "If you were told to kill yourself to save her, wouldn't you? It would be safer both for her," he looked each of them in the eye; "and for you, if you just let her go."

They stood with their heads bowed and teeth gritted.

"Perhaps Baki's right."

Kankuro and Temari turned aghast to their brother. "Gaara!"

"Suzume is weak, that is true," Gaara said calmly. "But that gives us enough reason to protect her. Love is not a weakness, Baki. Those outdated ideas have already been cast aside."

"We're not abandoning Suzume."

Temari nodded in agreement and before any of them could say anything, there was a loud twittering of birds and the sound of running footsteps.

Kankuro got to the door first and Temari could hear the fear in his voice when he yelled: "Suzume!"

"What's happened?!" Temari demanded.

"I don't know, I just saw her running around the corner."

"We're going after her," Gaara pushed past them and took to the rooftops.

"Right!" Kankuro and Temari followed without a thought, leaving Baki alone inside the living room.

.

Suzume's stomach growled loudly and she suddenly felt the long forgotten ache of hunger. She blankly placed a hand on her abdomen and stared down at it. The birds hopped around in front of her, cocking their heads to the side in question.

Suzume pulled herself up and slowly headed to the glass doors. A quiet query about the drawn curtains entered her mind as she was lifting an arm to open the door.

"That's bullshit!"

Kankuro's outburst made Suzume jump, her hand hovering an inch over the handle.

"Kankuro!" Suzume heard Temari yell in a hushed voice.

"He's telling us to kick Suzume out! Our little sister, Temari!" Suzume's eyes widened. Kick her out? Why? Was it because she was being a bother in her mournful state?

Who was 'he'? A scary thought entered Suzume's head. Gaara-sama?

"How can you even think that?! Have you gone mad?!" Kankuro kept yelling.

"I agree!" Temari hissed. "But keep your voice down!" 

"She's not your little sister."

It wasn't Gaara. It was Baki's voice. But the words stung. They stung because of their truth. She wasn't their sister. Regardless of how many times they called her their sister, it wouldn't make it true. No matter what written records say, it wouldn't make it true.

Suzume flinched at the crash of something large.

"How could you say that?!" Kankuro demanded from inside. "Suzume is and always will be family!"

"We can say the same for you, Baki!" Temari's voice said. "What makes you and her any different?!"

"Why should we kick her out?! What reason would we have to abandon her?!"

"THAT CHILD HAS BECOME YOUR WEAKNESS!"

Suzume took in a sharp breath and the hand that had been outstretched this entire time, fell to her side.

"That's the difference. That's the reason."

She was waiting for someone to defend her. Somebody to deny everything Baki was saying.

"You've become too sentimental, you've forgotten what you are," Baki was saying. "You're shinobi." His voice became harsher. "Love is weakness."

Come on. Say something.

"If she was taken hostage, would you take even a second to weigh her life with yours?" Baki asked through the silence.

Anything.

"If you were told to kill yourself to save her, wouldn't you? It would be safer both for her, and for you, if you just let her go."

Silence. Come on.

"Perhaps Baki's right."

This time it was Gaara and Suzume felt her heart rip into a thousand pieces. A buzzing began in her ears.

"Gaara!" said an astonished Kankuro and Temari

"Suzume is weak, buzz," Gaara was saying. "That gives us enough reason to buuuuuzzzz cast her aside."

"We're buzz abandoning Suzume."

Suzume suddenly found that she could move her legs. Her next instinct was to run. She thought she heard someone yell after her but she didn't stop or look back. Suzume ran around the corner and down the street blindly. Her mind was strangely empty but the buzzing wouldn't stop. She gritted her teeth at the pain and her hands flew to cover her ears, trying vainly to block it out.

Why won't it stop?! Somebody make it stop!

There was a burning sharp pain around her neck and she crumpled to the ground. Around her blurring vision, she saw feet and perceived muffled voices. Somebody was picking her up...

Then... darkness engulfed her.

_ _ _

"Eh?!" Konata exclaimed into the phone. "Suzume-chan is missing?!"

"Hai..." Temari sounded incredibly sleep deprived. "She's been gone for days now."

Konata frowned. "Temari-san, no matter what the reason, you have to make sure to take good care of your body."

"Yes, ma'am..."

"I'll keep an eye out for her," promised the old lady. She cracked a smile. "Don't worry yourself too much, dear. Every child has a rebellious stage. I'm sure Suzume-chan is just fine."

"Thank you. Please call if you find her."

The call was cut and the store clerk hobbled over to sit near the window. After settling herself down in her rocking chair and pulling a blanket over her legs, she sighed. "As troublesome as the rest of her kind, I see. I can't imagine what the future has in store for the little pup."

Something suddenly caught Konata's eye and she bolted to her feet. She couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"Suzume-chan!" she yelled as she burst through the door and hobbled to the street.

Suzume turned at the call of her name and watched impassively as Konata came up to her. The old woman engulfed her in a tight embrace, filling the girl's nose with old grandma smell.

"Why, you little rebel," Konata said, pulling away from the hug and resting her hands on Suzume's shoulders. "How in the world did you manage to evade the radar of three elite shinobi?"

Suzume stood there, staring down at her feet. Konata caught a glimpse of a tear shattering on the ground.

"Konata baa-san..." Suzume said, a break in her voice caused by her sobs. "Have you ever hated yourself so much you wished you could disappear?"

Konata smiled kindly as Suzume tried in vain to stop the tears.

"I want to go home!" Suzume cried.

"Then why don't you go home, dear?"

"I'm scared..." Suzume gave up on attempting to dry her tears and instead buried her face in her hands. "I'm scared...!"

After Konata led her inside her shop and into the living area part of the house, she let her wash her face and prepared something warm to eat. Suzume muttered her thanks and began to gulp down the soup.

"Now, Suzume-chan," Konata said as the girl ate. "What do you want to do?"

"I..." Suzume looked down at her quivering hand. "I want to be able to protect myself."

Konata nodded slowly, musing to herself. "And how do you want to go about doing that?"

"I need to train and get stronger. I need to become independent." Suzume played with her tongue, contemplating something. "Konata baa-san. Would it... would it be possible for me to join the Institute?"

The old lady blinked owlishly at her question. "The Institute? For Aspiring Shinobi?"

Suzume nodded timidly, going red.

"Well, I don't see why not," Konata said. "As long as you pass the entrance exam."

Suzume perked up at this but Konata raised up a hand. "But it won't be easy. And it'll be darn right hard once you get in. Are you sure about this?"

"Yes." Suzume answered.

Konata smiled and got to her feet. She went into the hall and came back with the phone. "Then, we should inform your family you're safe and tell them we've got some news, shouldn't we?"

After a long lecture about running away and how irresponsible it was, Suzume was stuck in the tatami mat room, sitting on her knees with her siblings sitting cross-legged in front of her. She somewhat felt like a criminal waiting for judgment from the great daimyos from the comics she had read.

The moment Suzume told them about her decision there was a decisive consensus.

"No," said the Sand Siblings.

Suzume flinched but rebounded. "But-"

"No," they repeated.   

"You're not going to make it, Suzume," Temari said straightforwardly. "You're not a shinobi. Frankly, you're the complete opposite."

"I'm still taking the exam."

Temari slammed her hand on the floor. "Suzume, do you have your head on straight?! You think you can survive in our world?! Someone like you won't survive a day!"

Suzume kept her mouth closed. Temari exhaled and calmed herself. "Is this about what happened the other day? It was a misunderstanding. You didn't hear everything Gaara had to say."

"Gaara-sama clearly said I was weak," Suzume interjected. "I know what I heard."

"And we keep telling you that you heard wrong!"

"But you can't deny that he said I was weak!"

"No, I can't," Gaara spoke up. "But what I said after justifies it."

This evidently wasn't the right thing to say since Suzume's face twisted in grief.

"Think about it, Suzu," Kankuro's eyebrows were knitted as he considered his sister. "You'll be required to start from the beginning. The first years' class. And that's if you can pass the entrance exam."

Suzume didn't respond and kept her head bowed.

"You don't even have a chakra system," the puppeteer continued, trying hard to dissuade her. "You'll be mocked and belittled and there's only a slight chance that you'll become a full-fledged shinobi."

She still kept silent.

"Oi, are you listening?" Kankuro became impatient. "What's the point in trying when you know it won't work?! You'll be bullied for nothing!"

"If words and physical wounds are able to keep me inside!" Suzume finally shouted. "Isn't that just a coward's life?!"

Kankuro blinked, never had he seen Suzume this angry. Her eyes were blazing and she looked like she was going to cry but she had her hands balled into fists, fighting hard to keep the sobs in.

"How do you know I'm not going to succeed?!" she demanded, her eyes shifting over to lock on Temari. "I haven't tried yet and you're already labelling me down for failure!" 

"I'll work hard," she faced Gaara with a pleading look. "I'll work hard and I'll get stronger, so please let me prove myself! Please don't leave me!"

Gaara stared down at his sister. He was struck by this whiplash. Wasn't he doing the same thing to her that countless other people have been doing to him his entire life? Why should he say that she couldn't do something?

Gaara got to his feet and headed to the exit. "Let her do it."

"Gaara!" Temari said in outrage as Suzume smiled in relief and delight.

"But on the condition that she passes the exam," he looked over his shoulder at Suzume. "There won't be any other chances."

"Hai!" Suzume beamed. "Thank you, Gaara-sama! I won't disappoint you!"

And she stuck to her word. Two weeks later, Suzume found herself inside the halls of the Institute.   

She entered her classroom to be hit on the head by a paper airplane and greeted by shrieks and shouts. The room was filled to the brim with laughing and jumping children between the ages of seven and eight, already making a mess before the bell even rang. Their heads all turned simultaneously at the sight of her, silence plummeting down like the desert temperature at night, and she felt pinned to the spot by all the eyes on her. She gripped her umbrella tightly and entered the room. The children followed her as she went to sit in the far back of the room.

It seemed to be years before the bell rang and the teacher arrived. She went to stand behind the podium at the front of the room and with a quick scan of the room (her eyes lingering longer on Suzume than anyone else), she began to call roll.

Suzume waited on bated breath for her name to be called and once it was, she jumped to her feet. Instead of standing, she fell forward, tumbled through the chairs and desks and landed in a heap in front of the teacher. The instructor peered at her over the stand in distaste while the classroom exploded with gleeful laughter.

"Here..." Suzume smiled nervously up at her instructor.

She dismissed her with a flick of her pencil and Suzume hopped onto her feet and returned to her spot. She thought she could die of embarrassment.

Hisoka, I'm here. You think I can do it, don't you? I can prove myself.

Suzume took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

I can.