"... I never told you about him," It was a murmur, almost defensive as she looked away and hugged her arms to her chest. Damn...

"... That's sort of part of it, though. When... When I lived in Kiri, I was surrounded by prodigies -- monsters. Sephiroth is my cousin, and likely the single-strongest shinobi I know of. I was probably the weakest kid the clan had produced in a while, not even close to measuring up to members of my own family or other clan kids around me, right up to the night when I was taken away. Part of me... I..."

She bit her lip then, wanting to curl up as she thought about it, "... I was... I thought that I was sent away by my parents 'cause they thought I wouldn't survive and they wanted me to live. I always tell myself that's not the reason why, but part of me thinks it is. That ninja from Kiri would always be too strong for me to take on, and that I'd never measure up or even come close to matching anyone from there. That the instant I'd run into them, it'd just be over. It's... Something I've never told anyone. And... I guess I still haven't gotten over it."