“Why can’t we go outside?” My innocent child voice asked my mother as she walked to me.

She let her hand slip through my long, black hair before she answered, “The world beyond this island is cruel and selfish. What you see out there is not a welcoming warm light, but the fires of mayhem wreaking havoc on the Village our clan is sworn to protect. Until your father deems you strong enough, you must stay here, where you and your brothers are safe. Do you understand, my darling?’’ I looked out at the bright orange light that flickered below our mountain, and sighed in defeat, “Yes, mommy.” She kissed my head sweetly before picking me up in her arms, “Come. It’s time for bed. You’ll wake your baby brothers staying up too long.” She placed me in my bed while my non-identical twin brothers slept in their crib. They sleep like babies.

Since we weren’t part of the 3rd caste, which consists of defeated shinobi who were forced to settle here by the Hidden Mist victors, we did not have to attend the Academy. Thank goodness for that, because it meant we were spared from taking the dreaded Graduation Examination Ceremony. The ceremony involved killing off all other students in your graduation class or die trying. So basically, our island didn’t have a Genin exam. Only when the Head deemed you at Rakurai level, were you called a Ninja. Which meant we were all classified as Black Ops level ninja from the age of 16.

This didn’t mean we weren’t educated. We were instructed by our parents while the rest of our Haurutsuki Youth attended a private school on the island. Our mother’s in charge of our academic and diplomatic training. Yes, we were treated like royalty and trained like ones too.

Unlike work from the academy, we weren’t just schooled in fighting and history. We were also taught about other nations and how they operated. Of course, regular shinobi wouldn’t know what we did, but since we were being bred to specialise in infiltration, we had to learn to adapt to various cultures, traditions, languages, literatures, and art forms. It was typical Rakurai learning, except we weren’t learning it with the rest of the Haurutsuki kids... We didn’t mind though, we loved our mother teaching us. And while we couldn’t leave the island, we could imagine the world outside through learning from books and secret gathered intel scrolls from the Haurutsuki Library. Yes, our island was also the keeper of secrets, known only to the Mizukage and a select few of his advisors. When a mission requires background knowledge, my father is the shinobi the Mizukage reaches out to, and one day, he will reach out to me.

Our father’s in charge of our overall combat and ninjutsu training. I remember when I first discovered my second nature, Lightning Style being the first. He was overjoyed to see me manipulating water as he had, when I only three years old. We trained at the base of the mountain, away from the Haurutsuki Compound and closer to border separating us from the rest of the Village. It was always tempting, which I think is why my father chose it. To teach us restraint. The mountain was surrounded by a large body of water in the form of a river. The mist was always just thick enough to prevent you from seeing the nearby walls of the Village. Which we often wished to see.

‘Water Style: Water Fang Bullet!’ I declared in my mind as I stood at the edge of the river. I was now six, and my twin brothers were three. When the large amount of water, burst out from under me in the form of bullets, my brothers cheered, “Whoo-hoo! Go Miyuki!” Ryuu screamed. “Yay.” Katsu cheered flatly (his always been the ying to Ryuu’s yang if you get what I mean). This didn’t give me a big head though, if anything it made me anxious about my performance. I turned to wave at them with a nervous smile. They were sitting on a small tree on separate branches nearby.

My father then grabbed my shoulder, “Well done Miyuki. It would seem you have perfected a B-Rank ninjutsu. If you had been at the Hidden Mist Academy, I have no doubt you’d have graduated a Genin by now.” He said proudly. For a moment, I felt filled with warmth and joy, but it never lasted long. As his hand slipped off my shoulder, so did that moment of a accomplishment, “Next, you will finish learning the Water Wall Technique and start the Water Prison ninjutsu training. It should be easier now that you know how to regulate your water clones over longer distances.” He instructed. Ryuu began to whine on my behalf, “Huh!? So many…’’ I had to ignore it though l, and gave a sharp nod instead, “Yes, father.” I replied. “Be quiet Ryuu. You’re making a noise…” Katsu casually complained. He was always a bit of a spoilt prince, if you ask me.

My brothers had only begun their taijutsu training and would only join me once they've discovered their second chakra natures. The first always being lightning, of course. My dad smiled and cupped my cheek, “That’s my girl.” He replied before letting me go. This is when I expected him to disappear to do a mission debriefing for a squad or file a Rakurai report or something.

As Head, he was the bridge between the Rakurai Division and the Mizukage. He always had somewhere to be when we weren’t training, but today was different. Instead of just flashing away without another word, he let go of my cheek and looked up in the near distance. “Huh?” Both Katsu and Ryuu looked too.

I turned to look behind me in the distance. My eyes widened, ‘A Rakurai Member?’ I realised. He rushed forward and bowed before me and my father, “My Lord, and Princess. Lord Fourth has just sent me with urgent news.” He said hastily. “Speak, Messenger.” My father instructed. The messenger looked up at us with worried eyes, “The Third Shinobi War… Has begun.” We all gasped in shock. “You have been ordered to appear before the Mizukage immediately to discuss the Division’s next course of action, Lord Tadashi.” The messenger added. “Kids, get home to your mother. Tell her I won’t be home for dinner.” My dad said with growing anxiousness. I stared up at his nervous face, stunned to see him in such a state. “Ryuu, Katsu.” He instructed, and the two boys immediately leapt out the tree and ran up to pull me by the arms, “Come on, come on, come on!” Ryuu tugged. “Let’s go!” Katsu grunted out, “Miyuki, now! That’s an order.” My father commanded, rattling us to our core. “R-right!” I nodded shakily, and with that, I dashed up the mountain with my little brothers in hand.

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The Hidden Mist Village fell into chaos under the rule of the Fourth Mizukage. Those that fled the Village were hunted down and executed, even by our own operatives. However, my father still kept the Haurutsuki children and new members out of it, telling the Mizukage that only the adults are needed in this war and that in the meantime, the children would undergo more training.

When Katsu was four, he discovered he had the ability to manipulate pure chakra by emitting it in the form of small, glowing, green spheres. It was a clear indicator that he was a Ninjutsu Orb User, an extremely rare talent, even in the Haurutsuki Clan. It’s even purer than our Lightning Style Jutsu, which meant he had already surpassed most of us on the island. It also meant he had the ability to sense chakra as a Sensory Type shinobi. Discovering this, Katsu needed a new instructor, and there were only two other Ninjutsu Orb Users on the entire Haurutsuki Mountain. He was placed under the apprenticeship of one named Daichi Haurutsuki, a Haurutsuki Ninjutsu Master in his late thirties. Katsu’s technique would take up a lot of time to learn and meant he wouldn’t practice any other Justus.

Ryuu was a late bloomer, but I would never think of him as the family’s disappointment like the arrogant snob Katsu did. To compensate his inability to have found his elemental nature, he picked up my dad’s sword and began learning sword wielding instead. Ryuu was over the moon when he discovered his second nature was Wind Style. He was six, and two years into his sword training already. His mentor was now officially our mother, who happened to be a left-handed sword fighter and Wind/Water Ninjutsu User. She was kind yet diplomatic in her teachings and was only in her mid-thirties. My instructor, however, remained the same: My father. He was often busy though and would leave me with the basics I needed to train on my own.

This only meant more work for my mother, of course. She trained both me and Ryuu when I needed more instruction.

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