Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Forbidden ❯ Nara Azarni ( Chapter 1 )
[ P - Pre-Teen ]
Nara Azarni set her teeth and sealed her eyes shut for the scolding that was yet to come. Grabbing the door handle with her trembling hand, she turned the knob and opened the door to the small house. With her back turned towards the room, the girl shut the door. Her heart was racing like a hunted animal, as she turned her head to look into the room. No one was there. Sighing with relief, the young women slid down to the floor with her back against the wooden door.
“I thought I'd be caught for sure,” the girl thought as she walked over to the light brown wooden table that seated four.
Sitting down on one of the chairs, the girl looked to her right with a puzzled look on her face. About four feet away was a green counter that rapped around about half of Azarni's right of the room. The room itself was like a box, with a small nub on the end, making it look a little bit like America's state of Alabama. Where the nub was, is where the back door the girl just walked through was, and where the wall of the big box started on that side is where the counter started. About three feet into the counter, is a silver-steal sink with a window before it with flowers on the window sill. The rest of it curved around the side wall, and ended about five feet away from the other side wall. In the five foot gap between the wall and counter, was an arch way to a short hall way between the stairs, the front door, and the living room. In the left over space of the kitchen, was the table the girl was sitting at, and a large window was on the side wall to her right.
“That's odd; Mother is usually working at the sink at this time of the day. Perhaps she went to the market,” Azarni thought while taking a rather large splinter out of her left arm. “I better clean myself up before Mother comes home and sees me.”
And so, the girl left the room through the archway, and went up the curving wooden stairway. As she went into the bathroom to the right next to the top of the stairs, she almost screamed at her own reflection in the mirror.
“I've really done it this time,” she declared as she pulled the twigs and leaves out of her hair. “How on earth am I going to hide all of these bruises, scratches, and cuts?”
Looking over herself, she found: one large scratch on her right cheek, a cut on her left leg, that only didn't drip because of her clothes were soaking it up, a cut on her ankle, a bruise on her left and right knee, a bruise on her chin, and another large scratch on her right arm. Fourteen, almost fifteen-year-old Azarni quickly got the first aid kit that was almost empty from all the times she had to use it. She first bandaged all of her cuts, and tried washing out the bloodstain in her clothes as much as she could. After then cleaning out her other wounds, she took out some make up to try to cover them up. It was then, that she heard the front door open and shut, and the sound of bags being put down.
“Azarni, are you home,” called a voice she knew all of her life. Crossing her fingers, she prayed that her mother wouldn't notice anything different about her today, and answered.
“I'm up here Mother,” she replied sweetly as she popped her head out of the bathroom door.
“Will you come help me prepare our supper,” she said walking towards the stairs. As Azarni was about to leave the room, she remembered all of the bloody rags that she left next to the sink. Worrying that her mother may come up and see the mess she left, she began to quickly clean up.
“I-I'll be down in a minute Mother,” she said taking the rags, and putting them on the dresser in her room across the hall. After doing so, she scurried down the stairs, where her other met her.
“Just what were you doing up their young lady,” she asked with a suspicious look on her face. She new her daughter got herself in trouble a lot and she could have very possibly done something now. The girl smiled and replied saying, “Nothing really, I was just in my room.”
“I'll deal with this later, Azarni we need to cook supper. Your father is going to be coming home from his mission tonight, se wee need to make a special dinner,” the women said walking into the kitchen. With Azarni following behind her, she took the ingredients out of the brown paper bag, and set it on the cutting board that was on the side wall part of the counter top. “Now, we'll be making some steak and salad for dinner tonight,” she said taking out the packaged steak.
“Yes mother,” Azarni replied meekly. Azarni's mother, Nara Gin, had beautiful long flowing silver hair. The women's skin was a light tan, with an under tone of yellow, and her eyes were a bright emerald color. To Azarni's disappointment, she inherited her Father's looks more than her Mother's. Azarni looked like a traditional Nara. She had onyx eyes, pale skin, and jet black hair that was half pulled back, with short side bangs.
“You can make the salad, while I cook the steak, alright,” Mrs. Nara said looking at her daughter as she washed her hands.
“Alright,” the girl replied, going to the back yard to pick some vegetables from their small garden. Azarni's back yard corners were fenced with carved tree branches, just to separate it from other Nara properties next to it. Grey, flat stepping stones were placed, to leading to the back door Azarni just exited from. Next to it was the garden that was about five by five square feet, right in front of the sink window. Above the garden, the clothes line was attached to the house, and stretched across the lawn. The yard itself, was actually only about twenty feet long, and thirty feet wide before the fenced corners. After the fences, was five feet before the Nara forest line began.
“Alright, I'll need lettuce, onions, carrots, cucumbers, and some tomatoes,” she listed to herself, and she squeezed herself in the little space in the garden that didn't have vegetation on. Within three minutes of trying to get the blowing bed sheets away from her face, she picked the things she needed. Walking back into the house, Azarni laid the things out on the table and took a large, plastic bowl out of the cupboard. She first washed all of them in the sink, dried them gently with a towel, and set them on the cutting board.
“Remember to make the onions in a ring-shape, and the carrots like shredded cheese,” her Mother demanded as she pounded away at the steak. Nodding her head, Azarni grabbed the carrot shredder, and a kitchen knife to start cutting and slicing away at them.
After a few hours of cooking, Azarni whipped her hands on the white apron she was wearing with a slight grin on her face. She and her mother were very satisfied with the masterpieces they accomplished. The sizzling smell of the steak made the girl's mouth water as she stared at it with delight. Steak was a treat to them; they only got it when her father, Nara Toshiro, was home. With his intelligence in fighting, and his talent in using the Nara's signature move `shadow possession jutsu', he was out on missions very often. The steak was also quite expensive for her family's budget since her Mother stayed home to raise her daughter. Often, Azarni tried telling her that she was old enough to stay home alone while she and her father were out on missions, but Azarni's foolishness that got her in trouble often didn't allow Gin's min to be changed. Her husband was part of the Nara clan, and was better in the shinobi carrier that her. It would be best for Azarni's sake, that she stayed home.
“Mother, when do you think Father will arrive home? Won't the food go cold,” she asked looking at her rather tall mother. With an almost cold tone, she said,
” You should know this sort of information by now, you're almost fifteen Azarni. Your father will get home, when he gets home. If the food goes cold, we'll just have to heat it up again.”
“Yes, of course Mother I'm sorry,” the girl said looking down at her toes. She felt so dumb when her mother scolded her like that. It was as if she had a child's mind inside of her womanly form. For a few moments of silence, the two of them stood quietly beside one another in front of the set table.
“Azarni,” her mother said softly. “You must understand that you need to grow up someday. You are a chunin now, so I'd expect that you would use your mind properly at home as well. I am sure your teachers expect much from you because you are blood related to Nara Shikamaru, who was known for his intelligence. You must have inherited your intelligence from my side of the family, but that does not give you an excuse to act like a child all of the time. Your childish behavior is the reason why you failed the chunin exam the first time even though you made it all the way through,” she said with a strong presence of seriousness in her voice. Azarni wanted to object some of the facts, but couldn't get any words to come out of her mouth. All she could do was say them in her head, which didn't help a bit. She tried not to be childish, but when her guard was down she would do crazy things like a child would.
A heavy silence now fell over the Nara household. As Azarni was about to speak, they heard a knock on the front door, which shattered the heavy weight on their shoulders.
“Could that be Father,” the girl asked as she quickly trotted over to the door. She looked through the small peephole in the door, and a wide grin spread across her face.
“Welcome home, father,” she said opening the door. In walked a man with: shoulder length black hair, a short goatee, onyx eyes, pale skin, a green Jonin vest, a torn up white sleeveless top, ripped up black cargo pants, and boots. “Is that steak I smell,” her father said with delight. “Thank you for making it you two, I haven't had a decent meal in days,” he said with a grin on his face as his wife came over to embrace him.
“You came right on time Father, it's nice and warm right now.” The three of them then walked over to the kitchen table, and sat down at their usual seats. Mr. and Mrs. Nara sat next to one another on the side of the table that was closest to the wall, while Azarni sat across from her Mother. Not soon after they started their meal, Azarni's secret was found out.
“Azarni, I see that you've gotten yourself into more trouble when I was gone,” he said looking at the cut on her ankle. Gin then squint her eyes while she looked at her daughter carefully for a few moments before she spot the bandage.
“When did you do that to yourself Azarni,” she scolded with concern. Azarni looked as if she was trying to speak as she dropped the cube of meat back onto her plate. After a few seconds, Toshiro asked, “Who dared you this time?”
“I-I, Hyuga Kenjiro said the Nara clan was weak compared to the Hyuga clan. He said if we were anywhere near as good as them, I'd be able to walk all the way around the fence that surrounds the `forest of death'… So I did it,” she said making a shocked look appear on her mother's face.
“You did what young lady,” she said as she turned white either out of fear or anger. Trying to defend herself, Azarni leaned forward on her chair saying, “I almost did it though! I only had about a yard, but I was startled by one of the other Chunins who was at the post... So I fell in to it,” she said looking down at her food.
“You could have gotten yourself killed, what were you thinking,” her mother scolded as she stood up from her seat. Her husband then put his arm in front of her, telling her to sit back down.
“Calm down Gin, she's a Chunin, and that's a test for Genin. Azarni probably got those cuts from the tall, wired fence she was balancing on and got those scratches from when she hit the ground. She was doing it for our own honor, though I must say Azarni that was not necessary for you to do,” he said resting his tired eyes.
“Just because someone challenges these dangerous things, it doesn't mean you have to do them. Use that brain of yours, it was put there for a reason,” he said rubbing his temples now.
“Yes Father, I'm sorry,” she said with her head still lowered.
“Once you're finished eating, go straight to bed. It's getting late,” he said standing up as he at the last bit of his food.
“Alright Father, I will,” she said slowly putting the meat she wanted so badly earlier up to her face. She didn't dare look at her Mother now that she knew about what she did earlier. She would probably have an expression of disapproval like she did the last time she accepted a dangerous challenge.
“Mother, I can't eat anymore,” Azarni said poking at her rice. Gin sighed as she picked up her daughter's plate, and put the left over food in a small box for later. After a few seconds, her mother gave her a light kiss on the cheek goodnight, and shooed her to bed.
“Why do I have to be so different? Why am I so odd,” she thought as she grasped her flower patterned bedspread with her hands. “All I want is for Father and Mother to be proud of me for once, but that never happens. I try being good, and train in my family line's special jutsus, and yet I'm not praised at all for it. All I get is scolding…,” she continued to think as she turned onto her side as the moon's reflection shined through her bedroom window across the room. “But I don't know how long I can stand it anymore,” she thought as a tears threatened to roll down her face.