Finding the Bloodline Limit

Hato climbed with her squirrel claws to the top of the tree. She looked out to see that nobody was coming. “All clear guys!” She and her sisters had run from a village where they had been called demons for their animal features and it was dark they needed to catch some sleep.

Hato, picking up her younger sister, flew back up into the tree. The oldest was able to climb. Neither of her sisters had a set of wings and each of the three girls were different. Hato was part squirrel and also part pigeon, Willow had features of a fox, and Katani had those of a cat. But all of them were also human.

They each snuggled on different branches, each branch being big enough for them not to fall off. And Hato, being the squirrel, slept closest to the top of the tree, whereas her sisters slept nearer to the trunk.

As the morning light began to creep through the leaves of the tree, Willow began to stir. When she was fully awake, she carefully climbed to the top of the tree to wake Hato. When Hato awoke, she and Willow both looked at each other, knowing that they both shared the same thought. It was Willow who finally spoke it out loud. “Who is gonna wake up Kat?”

Finally deciding they would both do it together, Hato helped Willow back down the tree. They both stood in front of their older sister. But all their courage had left them. “I don’t wanna die first, you die first!” Hato switched places with Willow so that she was in between her and Katani.

Willow reached out with a shaky hand and poked Katani. She then turned immediately, trying to run the other direction. She collided into Hato and they both fell out of the tree. Willow hit the ground with a grunt and a thud. Hato was fluttering in mid-air, sticking her tongue out at her sister. Willow only scowled and rubbed her sore bottom in response.

Up in the tree, Katani began to wake up. She rolled over and fell out of the tree. She landed on Hato, who was desperately trying to keep them both in the air, her wings flapping frantically. “Katani, you’re heavy.” Hato tried to set her down gently but as soon as they got close to the ground, they both fell. This time it was Willow who stuck out her tongue.

They began to walk towards the next village, staggering slightly because their butts still hurt from the fall. Soon Katani began to complain about the rumbling in her stomach. “It’s okay, onee-chan,” Willow said smiling. “We’re stopping in the next village anyways. We can get food there.”

“I want some ramen,” Hato sighed.

“Maybe we can get ramen,” Willow smiled.

“But before we get there, shouldn’t we cloak ourselves so we aren’t called demons in this village too?” Katani, the wisest and oldest of the three, spoke out.

“How do you suppose we do that, sis?” Willow asked. “We don’t have any robes to wear.”

“We need to find some sort of hat to cover our ears and can’t we just tuck in our tails?” Katani suggested.

“Okay,” Hato smiled. Her wings were flapping and then the two realized that she hadn’t been walking with them.

“What about Hato’s wings, Kat?” Willow asked.

Katani sighed. “I guess there really is no way to disguise ourselves.”

By this time they had reached the edge of the village. Hato gulped and they all walked inside.

Finding the ramen stand, just as they had planned, they sat down on the stools. Sitting next to Hato was a blonde boy who seemed to be admiring her wings. “Hello!” he said excitedly. “I’ve never seen you here before. I’m Naruto!”

Hato smiled and introduced her and her two sisters.

“I’m surprised that no one has been afraid of us yet,” Willow remarked.

After finishing their ramen, Katani decided it was time to leave. She paid the ramen man and they all stood up. As they turned to leave, Hato grabbed Naruto by the wrist and began to pull him along. “Come on, Naruto! Come with us!”

“Naruto,” a voice called from behind them. The four of them turned to see a girl with pink hair standing near them. “Where are you going?”

“I honestly don’t know,” he replied.

Willow grinned. “Ooh, Naruto, is that your girlfriend?”

“No,” said the girl firmly.

“Guys, this is Sakura,” Naruto explained. “She’s a friend of mine.”

“Come on, let’s go!” Hato said, pushing past her sisters and through the doors. Both doors swung back, hitting Naruto in the head. “Naruto! What are you still doing in there?” Hato asked, not realizing that it was her fault he was on the other side of the door. She pulled on his wrist again and the doors swung back open, allowing Naruto to pass through. But one of the doors swung just hard enough to hit Kat in the rear. She grunted.

“Sakura, you’re welcome to come with us too, if you’d like,” Willow said.

Sakura watched as Hato practically dragged Naruto behind her. “Um, no, that’s okay. Thanks though.”

“So, where exactly are we going?” Naruto asked.

“To the library!” Katani said cheerfully.

Willow and Hato began to skip. “Yay! The library!”

“Ugh,” was the only thing Naruto could mutter.

“Naruto,” Hato began. “Where is the library?”

Naruto thought of sending them off in another direction but then he remembered that he, too, was being dragged along. So he decided to point the right way.

“So what do you need to do at the library, Kat?” Willow looked at her big sister.

“I need to find a book on clans.”

As they approached the library, Willow began to run faster. She ran face first into the door. “Ow,” she said.

“Erm, Willow?” Katani looked slightly worried. “Are you all right?”

“My head hurts.”

“Um, yeah.. You just ran into a door…”

Willow blinked. “I did?”

Katani slapped herself on the forehead.

Hato smiled obliviously. “That looked like fun!”

“Are they always like this?” Naruto asked.

“Pretty much, yeah. Sometimes I think I’m the only sane one,” Katani laughed.

They entered the library with Katani holding open the doors so that her sisters wouldn’t run into them. Katani ran off to find the book she was looking for and Willow just started browsing for nothing in particular. Hato, still dragging Naruto, just started skipping around the library as Naruto flung into random objects in the way. Hato stopped, staring at a book, eyes wide in amazement. “To what do I owe this miracle?” Naruto asked.

“It’s so pretty!” Hato pulled the book down from its shelf and began flipping through the pages.

Naruto couldn’t see over her shoulder. “What is?”

“The nuts!” Naruto’s eyes grew wide and he placed a hand between his legs. Hato’s eyes glanced over at him. “Ya know, Naruto, if you have to go to the bathroom, there’s one right over there.” Hato pointed.

“Um, yeah. Yeah, I have to use the restroom..” Seizing the opportunity, he ran out of the library. He stood by the door, waiting for them to come out. He didn’t want to be alone, but he didn’t want to be with them either. He saw someone approaching and he called out. “Sasuke! Help me! There are some crazy girls in there and they’re trying to kill me!”

But Sasuke wasn’t paying any attention. He seemed to be after something or possibly drunk. But he was moving too fast to be drunk. Sasuke swerved back and forth. Then Naruto finally saw it. Sasuke was chasing a fly. Just as the door opened, the fly went quickly inside to escape Sasuke. Sasuke followed it in.

“Naruto!” The door swung back and hit Naruto.

“Ugh, not again!”

“Naruto?” Hato looked out, trying to find him. “Naruto, you like being on the other side of the door, don’t you?” Hato grabbed his hand again and pulled him back into the library. The two finally joined Katani and Willow just in time to see Sasuke attack the fly. But in using his hand seal to conjure a fireball, Sasuke missed the fly. A pile of books labeled ‘clans’ was destroyed.

“What?” Sasuke exclaimed. “I missed? How could I have missed?”

Katani’s face turned red in anger. She grabbed Sasuke up by the shirt and balled her hand into a fist. “You destroyed…My only chance….Of finding out… The importance of my Kenkai Genkai!” Sasuke squirmed from her grip. Before she let him escape, Katani punched Sasuke in the abdomen. Katani chased Sasuke until her anger had ceased and she was calm again. Sasuke got away.

“Maybe we can find it out at the next village, Kat,” Willow said hopefully. Katani sighed and Hato patted her shoulder.

“Naruto, give my sister a hug,” Hato pushed him into Katani.

Katani flared. “Get…Off of me…”

Naruto quickly moved so as not to get on her death list like Sasuke had.

By the time they were far away from the library, Katani’s anger had subsided and she had decided it was time to move on.

They all said their goodbyes to Naruto, Hato squeezing him so tight that he couldn’t breathe. Willow’s grip wasn’t as tight and Katani didn’t even touch him.

“Bye!” Willow waved excitedly.

Katani sighed as she thought of the road ahead of them.