A/N: Hey guys! This isn't my first Naruto fanfic, but it's the first one I've decided to upload. Hope you like it =]

Rebirth

Part One: Discovery

Chapter 1: Healing Hands

My name is Chigetsu Akako, and I am eight years old.

I live at an orphanage in Iwagakure, but I'm not an orphan. My mother died two years ago. She was a ninja. She had nice brown eyes and brown hair, and I loved her. But she always seemed sad, and she wouldn't let me play with her things. She said being a ninja was dangerous, but I wanted to be just like her.

Ame took care of me when my mother went away. She always came back, but one day, she didn't. Everyone thought I was too little to understand, but I did. Mother had gone to a better place, and now Ame had to take me to my first day of school, instead.

"Why are we going to regular school, Ame-obaa?"

"Because you're a regular girl, Aki-chan."

"But Kaa-san was a ninja."

"Kaa-san told me to bring you to regular school."

"Why? I want to be a ninja, too!" I exclaimed.

"No, Aki-chan! It's too dangerous," she said, holding firmly onto my hand as I tried to pull away.

"But Tou-san was a ninja, too!"

"Who told you that?" she snapped.

"I heard Kaa-san telling someone. Did you ever meet him, Ame-obaa?"

"I did not," she said. She was still angry, so I didn't ask again.

I didn't think Ame was going to die, too. She fell trying to reach something and didn't get better. Her relatives argued a lot about me after she died. They said I was cursed. They said I was a burden. Ame's cousin's niece brought me to the orphanage when I was seven. She smiled and told me they were going to take care of me.

She lied.

Ame didn't like me very much, but she took care of me. The villagers say mean things to me, and so do the kids at the orphanage. They tell me my parents didn't want me. They say my mother was a disgrace—that even she didn't know my father's name, so she had to give me a made-up one. They say I have no family, that not even Ame's family wanted me because I was a girl.

One day, I'm going to run away from here. I'm going to become a ninja, and I'm going to find my father.

-paragraph break-

I don't like going to school. My classes are so boring, and I don't have any friends. I like to sneak to the ninja academy, instead. No one ever catches me, because I'm careful and hide myself. If I see their lights, I can stay away.

Today, I was sitting in a tree, watching them practice taijutsu. Sometimes, when I can't sleep, I'll practice, too. The nightmares are so scary, and the kids at the orphanage don't understand why I'm so noisy when I sleep.

It's because they're real orphans. Every night, my mother is in my dreams. I dream that they take her away. I dream that she leaves me. I dream that Ame leaves me, too. Sometimes, there's blood in my dreams.

I heard cheeping behind me, and I turned around to see where it was coming from. At the end of another branch, I saw a bird's nest with two chicks in it. One of them was close to the edge of the nest, trying to fly.

"Ganbare, tori-chan!" I said.

The little bird jumped, flapping its little wings. It went out of sight.

Something was wrong. I waited and didn't see it come back up. Jumping off my branch, I landed on the grass and went to the other side of the tree. I found the bird flopping around on the ground. Its wing was broken.

"Oh no!" I whispered.

Carefully, I picked up the bird. I was so scared it was going to die, I started to cry. I didn't want the other little bird to be alone. I didn't want its mother to be sad.

My hands became very warm. I was sweating because I was praying so hard. Then, my hands started to glow. I almost dropped the bird. My hands kept glowing. I could see the little bird's wing becoming straighter. When my hands stopped glowing, its wing was straight again. I unfolded and folded it just to make sure, amazed.

"Botan-sensei, there's a girl over here!"

Surprised, I screamed. No one has snuck up on me in a long time.

"Why aren't you in school, imouto-chan? Is that a bird you're holding?"

"I don't like school. I-I wanted to help tori-chan," I stuttered. I started crying again because I was afraid I was in trouble.

"Don't cry, you're not in trouble. I'm Botan-sensei. What's your name?"

"Aki-chan," I sniffled.

"What happened to tori-chan, Aki-chan?" he asked.

"Tori-chan's wing was broken," I said. The children's lights were so close and bright, I was distracted.

"So you were trying to help?"

"Yes," I said, suddenly dizzy.

-paragraph break-

When I woke up, I was in the hospital. I heard Botan's voice. He was talking to the caretaker at the orphanage. Getting up, I crept closer to the door and listened.

"She's suffering from chakra exhaustion, which is highly unusual given her age. I don't know how she could have healed that bird, not without intensive training. She certainly should not be going to regular school. With your permission, I'd like Aki-chan to enroll at the ninja academy."

"Aki-chan's guardian asked for her to be placed at a civilian school."

"Were her parents ninjas?"

"Her mother was Jishin Ishiko. Perhaps the name is familiar to you."

"I didn't know Ishiko-san had a daughter! I can see the resemblance now. Please, Aki-chan needs to enroll in the ninja academy. She has an amazing talent that should not be wasted."

I saw the caretaker frown and opened the door, afraid she was going to say no.

"I want to be a ninja! Kaa-san was a ninja, and Tou-san was, too!"

"Aki-chan, you shouldn't be up!"

"But I want to go to the Academy!" I insisted, as Botan took me by the arm.

"Aki-chan," the caretaker said, frowning.

"Please," I said, as I got back into bed, "I'll go to school every day!"

-end of chapter-

A/N: So, does Akako get to enroll in the Academy? Find out, you shall.