Rabbit Princess [Gaara] [1]

☾ 1: Prologue ☽

Spring was blossoming and the garden was blooming under its influence. A garden in the village of Konohagakure was a spectacle in itself during springtime. The sunlight fluttered down and soaked the garden with a marvellous golden glow that converted scattered pollen into pixie dust. Songbirds were hosting their orchestra in a manner one could hope to influence the people around them.

At the very least, that is what Hiruzen Sarutobi hoped for the people of Konohagakure, and beyond. But right now, the Third Hokage was not fascinated by the beauty of the garden itself, rather he was interested in the infant staring out at it, her bright blue eyes lit up in a shade of green from swaying trees outside.

Hiruzen was stood in the room, pacing back and forth as he glanced at the baby girl that was laid out on a futon on the ground. There was a mass of white hair on tiny head and barely covering the small horns protruding from it. But Hiruzen's mind was miles away, trying to imagine how to reintroduce the girl to the village of Konohagakure. What name, what identity, what family... Hiruzen had no idea what he must do for the girl and for the village.

It was not lost on the village, and beyond, that Konohagakure had acquired another Jinchuriki one while year ago. It was not lost on the village, and beyond, that Konohagakure had raised the descendant of the Rabbit Goddess for one whole year ago. It was not lost on the village, and beyond, that Konohagakure had given shelter to a child of a demon for one whole year.

When Jiraiya had brought a white-haired and blue-eyed baby to the Third Hokage, Hiruzen had thought that the girl was Jiraiya's own daughter from an unknown woman. But then Jiraiya dictated to his teacher about how he had found the child on his travels following the end of the Third Great Shinobi War.

Jiraiya had come across an unnaturally large lily flower, that blossomed when he touched it, absorbing a major portion of his Chakra (something that took him days to recover from) and revealed to be hosting a baby girl. Hiruzen had been sceptical of this tale, citing Jiraiya's drinking and womanising habits.

However, once he had observed Jiraiya's condition and the child was checked by a nurse, Hiruzen was shocked to learn of the girl's origins. While it was true the girl was born of human parents, her lineage was connected to Konohagakure itself. And within days, six Magatama had appeared over her collarbones and the Yin and Yang symbols on her hands.

Hiruzen could not understand the girl's arrival and could not see what it meant for the future. Especially since the nurse that had been assigned to take care of the girl and had explicitly and furtively swore to the Hokage that she had seen the girl's blue eyes switch into Byakugan and Sharingan. It was something no one had seen before and Hiruzen had kept the secret within the two of them.

Such events, caused Hiruzen to hide the girl from the people of Konohagakure, and the rest of the Shinobi world. He could still not understand where the girl, who they had named Shirayuri (named by Jiraiya), had come from, or more so, he feared that he had an idea. And within the first month of her arrival, during the full moon, a seal glowed on her forehead.

It took several days to decipher what the intricate and medieval seal held, and Hiruzen was not pleased when he found out that the creature within the girl was the Okuninushi, which could mean only one thing: The creature had returned and had sealed itself in the girl, something only a non-human, a member of the Otsutsuki Clan could bear.

Then, Shirayuri was given a full name: Otsutsuki Shirayuri, a name Misaki thought was only fitting of such a child. Hiruzen knew that Misaki, who did not have a child, was excited to take care of the girl but Hiruzen's consciousness was pulling at him as to what to do with the girl and whether to keep her a secret from everyone.