Arc VIII Chapter 13
<strong><b>VIII</b></strong>
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<strong><b>Arc VIII Chapter 13
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Yuki panted. Her throat was drier than Sunagakure. Her feet hurt.Theendless marchingkilled. Yukimarched, and marched, and marched as far her weakfeet carried her, but the gruesome hill didn''t end.Theinnocuous hill turned into a veritable mountain, into a peak d in eternal snow and ice high above the pristine clouds. Thehilltop proved beyond her reach.
Yuki copsed in a state ofplete exhaustion. Her forces were depleted. She needed a pause. A little nap in a cosy, fluffy bed. Nee-san insisted in her wisdom on improving her ‘speed’, ‘stamina’, and ‘endurance’. Unfortunately, she had none of these.
And unfortunately, her trainingwas beyond brutal. Her training was a death march.Her backpack wasstuffed with Nee-san''s love, and lead. The weightsuffocatedher. Nee-san was trying to kill her. Once again, she exhibited her sadistic streak
“...”Yuki pouted.Nee-san was definitely a sadist ...
An insidious pebble interrupted her thoughts. Yukistumbled and fell.
“Ouch.”Yuki rubbed her butt. At least, the marching had finally ceased.
Yuki rested on the ground and enjoyed her peace. The rocky, arid earthprovided her with a hard bed, but she was too exhausted to care.Her body hoisted the white g and capitted.The ground weed her.
...
“Yuki-chan?”
...
“Yuki-chan?”
...
“Yuki-chan?”
...
“...”Yuki heard her name loud and clear, but she continued to ying dead.
“Yuki-chan?”Asami poked her face with her scabbard.
Yuki didn''t approve. “Nee-san, please stop.”
Nee-san, however,didn''t stop. Instead, her poking intensified.“Thought so, you were only pretending.”
Nee-san apanied her on her training and enjoyed Amegakure''s nature. Nee-san packed light. Her umbre protected Nee-san from the relentless sun, while she fought the hill with her backpack on her shoulders.
Yuki narrowed her eyes.c
Nee-san ignored her pleas and kept pinching her cheeks. “Time to soldier on. We still have a long way to go.”
Yuki''s despaired.“What? No, no, no,I am goingnowhere. I am tired!”
“You mean tired like the two timesbefore? Are we simtingagain?”
“...”Yuki averted her eyes. Nee-san was mean.
“Good girl, and now get up. Pain is educational!” Nee-san smiled, proud of her little sister.
Yukididn''t share herenthusiasm. Her training was puretorture.“But ... But ... I can''t any more, Nee-san. I don''t want any more.Why do I need to suffer? Why do I need to train?”
“I guess you have a pointthere ...”Nee-san tilted her headbefore ppingher handstogether.“In that case, I have good news for you.”
“...”Yuki had a bad feeling. Goods news. The words carried an ominous connotation.
Nee-sanbeamed. “I have a little present foryou. I decided that you are going to be a kunoichi just like your nee-san,so Ienrolledyouat the ninja academy.“
...
...
...
“...”Yukiblinked. Her mind took time tocatch up.“You did what?How?Why?”
“I never signed up for the academy! I never asked to be a kunoichi!”Yuki panicked. This had to be a joke. Nee-san couldn''t be serious.
Nee-samnodded. “Indeed, you never asked, but I enrolled younevertheless. I even shortened your curriculum considerably. Thanks to my connections, you will skipthe lower sses.But in exchange, you needto train. Mycutelittle sister can''t be outdone by somemon academy students.”
...
...
...
“...”Yukifell silent. A bottomless nk starewas her answer. “Why?”
Nee-san leaned downwardsto pat her head. “Yuki, I know that you won''tunderstand now, but you will understandone day.I only want the best for you.Nothing else.”
“...”Yuki blushed. It was true, Nee-san cared about her, albeitin her own twisted way.
“You need to grow stronger, Yuki, considerably so. Not today, not tomorrow, but the day wille when Nee-san can''t protect, and you must rely on your own strength.”
“...”Yuki fidgeted. “But I am not made to be a kunoichi...”
Nee-saninterrupted her. “Yuki, strengthis not a matter of choice, but a matter of necessity.We live in a cruel world where strength reigns supreme. Humans are pitiful creatures exposed to the vagaries of fate. I hope you realise such sooner thanter. Suchis yourdestiny, should you chose to walk my path, Yuki.”
“...”Yuki fell silent.
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Asamibeamed. “Whatever, I think that youhaveearned a little pause, Yuki. You have suffered enough. For today.”
“...”Yukimustered a weak smile despite her deste state.
Asamiopened herpouch to producea mysterious scrollfrom inside.“Do you remember thescroll?”The scroll lookedancient,and familiar.
Yuki''s eyes fell on the timeworn seal. Thecat pawcaught her attention. Yuki remembered. “Thisscroll...”
“It is the one we found inside the cat.” Asami unravelled her find. The scroll contained nothing but nonsensical gibberish,pletely unreadable. Deciphering the glyphs was a fool''s errand. Their meaning had long since been lost to the sands of time. A white circle adorned the paper, surrounded by paws and numerous depictions of kittens. Her hunch told her the scroll was probably rted to cats.
Asami studied the kittens. They were ... cute. “Isyour family inany way connectedto cats?”
Yuki contemted, her little head thinking. “Not that I know of, but Okaa-san loved cats, and cats loved her.”
...
...
...
“...”Asami declined toment. This wasn''t the information she desired. “Interesting, but I was thinking more along the lines of legends, myths, tales. Don''t hesitate, any information can be useful.”
Yuki rubbedher chin.”Oka-san told meonce a bedtime story. Apparently, our family signedin ancient times a pact with cats. They acted as our guardians andpanions, but the pact had long since faded into obscurity ...”
Asami unholstered herkunaiand grinned. Her suspicions were correct.Bloodwas demanded, her blood.
Yuki''s eyes widened. “Nee-san, what are you doing?”
Asamigripped her kunai and smirked. “Watch and learn, Yuki.”
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<strong><b>━━━━━━┛</b></strong><strong><b>?</b></strong><strong><b>?</b></strong><strong><b>?</b></strong><strong><b>┗━━━━━━</b></strong>
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