Mayu had never really stood out, but when she passed the exam for the Academy, her mother bought her a bag that she had been pining over for the past few months—a bright blue, fluffy ball-shaped one.
Her big brother Izumo gave her the Look when he saw her wearing it for the first time. "Mayu... I don't know how to break this to you, but you're going to be made fun of."
Mayu stuck her tongue out at him and ran to school where she found out that her brother, like always, was one hundred percent correct. As soon as the teacher left the lecture hall, some of the other children gathered around her and ripped the bag off her back.
"What is this? You call yourself a ninja?"
"Ha! I say it's perfect. An ugly bag for an ugly girl!"
They began to throw it back and forth amongst each other, and when she grabbed for it, they threw it on the ground. Feeling bewildered and overwhelmed, amidst their laughter, she felt her eyes grow hot with tears. She had wanted to be noticed, but now she wished they would leave her alone.
Suddenly, she felt a shadow on her face. Looking up, she saw a dark-haired boy staring down at her—Rai.
Mayu knew him, of course. He was in her class, and unlike her, he had a lot of friends. His older brother Kotetsu was also Izumo's best friend. Kotetsu brought him along sometimes, but the most they'd done was silently sit in opposite ends of the sandbox while their brothers talked.
Rai scowled at her, and for a second she thought he would yell at her. He picked up her bag, and she flinched—but then, he slung it over his back.
"Real ninja can wear anything," he told the stunned children.
It was the best day of her life—the day when she made her first friend.
The worst day of her life followed shortly afterwards.
It began when Mayu found herself hiding from her brother in a shrub, right under the kitchen window.
"Mayu!" She heard Izumo yell out, as he stormed into the kitchen.
A dry leaf poked uncomfortably into her cheek, but she dared not move; Izumo was a lot older than her and a chūnin. He would find her right away if she made a single sound. But over the years, Mayu had gotten quite adept at avoiding detection by her brother, a fact that both pleased and infuriated him.
"Mother, have you seen Mayu?"
"What is it now?" She heard their mother laugh.
Hearing her ringing laugh brought a smile to Mayu's face. Their mother was the nicest person in the village, and made the best cakes to boot. Her mother was baking one now, and the smell of the crispy apple filling made her salivate.
"She skipped going to the Academy today again!" Izumo complained. "It reflects badly on me that my own sister is like this, you know."
"I'd say it's healthier for a child to be running around, having fun than to be sitting in a classroom learning how to kill people," their mother said in a mild tone.
She could practically hear Izumo roll his eyes. "Oh, not this again."
Their mother did not approve of Mayu attending the Academy. Though she'd never said why, Izumo had told Mayu it was because their father had died years ago in battle. Izumo on the other hand, wanted her to at least learn the basics of defending herself. There had been a big fight over it, she remembered. But Izumo won in the end, and she'd had to start attending the Academy.
On the bright side, Rai was there, so it wasn't so bad. But it was so boring. Mayu didn't care about learning how to set traps or throwing a shuriken with perfect precision. She would much rather run around the village with Rai, listening to all the merchants' stories at the market, looking at the clouds in the sky, and watching birds eat bread crumbs from her hands.
There was a light slapping sound.
"No, don't eat it," their mother said.
"What? Why not?" Izumo whined.
"It's not for you."
"Then who? It's not someone's birthday is it?" There was a small pause. "...you don't mean you're making a cake for that thing, are you?"
Mayu's ears perked up. What thing was this?
Their mother said quietly, "And what if I am?"
"I thought..." Izumo hesitated. "I thought we had agreed that you were going to keep your distance from it. I don't even understand why Hokage-sama's put you up to this, he knows it's because of that thing that father – "
"I have raised that child for the past three years," said their mother. "And I have kept my distance. But the more I see him, the more I realize that he doesn't understand anything. He doesn't know anything. He's only a child, like Mayu."
At the mention of her name, Mayu gulped and uttered a silent prayer that she would never be caught eavesdropping.
"How could you say that?" Izumo sounded angry. "Have you even seen what that thing looks like? It's not a human, it's the damn fox itself!"
"That's just the Uzumaki clan trait and you know it, Izumo. It's Naruto's sixth birthday tomorrow, and he's never even had a cake, so heavens help me, I am making him one. And that's final."
Of course, after all that, Mayu had to see the boy for herself.
The other kids jeered about him sometimes, but she'd never met him before. However, he wasn't hard to find; she soon caught his face peeking out of an apartment window by the market. He was the complete opposite of Mayu—easy to single out, with his bright red hair and unique facial markings.
She waved up at him. "Hi there!" Immediately, his face disappeared from view. She frowned, and tried again. "Do you want to play hide-and-seek?"
There was no response, and she was about to give up, when she heard a small voice.
"...I don't know how to."
What a weird kid, she thought.
"That's okay, I'll teach you," she said. "I'm Mayu. What's your name?"
"...Naruto."
It was a bright sunny day out, but for some reason, Naruto seemed reluctant to leave his apartment. Nonetheless, with some coaxing, Mayu was leading him towards the park when they ran into Rai, who was throwing shuriken at a homemade target.
Looking curious, he wandered over. "What're you doing? And who's that?"
"This is the boy my mom's taking care of." She gestured back at Naruto. "Come on, say hello."
"H-hello..."
"Hold on, I know him." Rai peered at Naruto, who shrank backwards. "Yeah...he's the one Kayumo's mom told us to stay away from."
"Really? Why?"
Rai shrugged. "I dunno. She got mad at Kayumo for letting him join our game of tag."
"Why would she? He's just a kid like us." Mayu smiled encouragingly down at Naruto. "Right?"
At first the boy didn't respond, and she was about to turn around and call it quits—when his whiskered face broke out into a small smile.
How cute, she thought.
She couldn't have been more wrong.
It all happened so suddenly. One moment, she was pulling Naruto by the hand, and the next, they were surrounded by a group of armed figures. They didn't wear the hitai-ate of any villages—they were rogue ninja.
Mayu wished she had paid more attention at the Academy, but it was too late for that. She was helpless, and was soon immobilized. Though Rai put up more of a fight, trying to fight back with his shuriken, even he couldn't do anything. One of the rogues threw a kunai at him, and Rai let out a howl of pain as it struck his cheek in a splash of blood. Another rogue hit the back of his head, and then Rai was on the ground, unmoving.
Now, they were somewhere underground, below the village—the sewers. She knew some of the older kids sometimes sneaked in there, but she hadn't dared to…until now. They'd never mentioned how suffocating it was, being surrounded on all four sides with no windows or doors. There was only darkness, the dirty smell of sewage, and the sound of running water.
Mayu had never been so scared in her life. The narrow walls of the tunnel around her seemed like they were shrinking around her, and she couldn't breathe. Her heart was pounding so hard in her chest, it hurt.
All of a sudden, the rogue who was holding Mayu stopped. There was sweat on his hands, and it seeped into her mouth.
"They're coming."
The warning came not a moment too soon, as three dark figures swooped down from the ceiling. They wore animal masks—the ANBU. The rogues around her drew their weapons, and immediately engaged them.
Amidst the clanging and screaming of metal of meeting metal, Mayu felt a flicker of hope. She didn't know much about the mysterious masked ninja, but they were reputed as some of the best in the village. Surely, she thought, they were safe now.
"Stop!" The rogue holding Mayu cried out. Something cold and sharp touched her neck. "If you don't, I'll kill her here and now."
All three ANBU froze.
"Mayu!" One of them shouted.
It took a moment for her to recognize the voice behind the mask—it was her mother. Then, knowing that, she could no longer hold back the tears.
"Mom!" She struggled to free herself, but the man's grip was too strong.
"Your daughter? Lucky us. How's this for a trade then? You let us go with the jinchūriki, and we give you these two other kids back."
There was a pause.
"Very well," said a male ANBU's voice.