Broken Souls
A Naruto Story

Summary: After being saved from years in seclusion, Tomiko struggles to figure out who she truly is. Follow this young girl on her journey of self-discovery and redemption until she can finally look at herself in the mirror and say "I am not broken."
Genre: Drama, Family, Friendship, Slow Burn Romance
Warnings: Spoilers, Mental Illness, Strong Language, Adult themes

Chapter 1

Kakashi hated Obito Uchiha.

Okay, "hate" was a really strong word. Greatly annoyed just by sensing Obito's presence several meters away was probably more accurate. "Hate" was just easier to say, and Kakashi doesn't waste effort on unnecessary syllables.

One of the many reasons Kakashi doesn't like Obito was his attendance. If the Uchiha were on time, Sensei would have already explained the mission and the team would be on their way. Punctuality was one of the most important roles of being a ninja, so in Kakashi's eyes, Obito Uchiha was not a true ninja. Kakashi wasn't even sure how the goggled teammate made chuunin recently.

Kakashi observed the field were most of his team was gathered. Spring arrived, letting the sun's warmth touch his skin but the breeze was still cool, keeping the air at the most perfect temperature.

Rin Nohara was sitting in the still slightly damp grass nearby reorganizing her pack… for the third time. She liked being productive, just like himself, though she tended to over prepare if given the time to do so. Their sensei, Minato Namikaze, was leaning up against a tree, deep in thought.

Kakashi slipped out a kunai from his pouch and threw it at an unattended tree. He was so bored.

"Hey! Sorry I'm late!" Finally Obito showed up. Kakashi saw Obito running towards the group with his pack bouncing on his back. "There was-"

"What are the details of the mission, Sensei?" Kakashi interrupted the Uchiha rudely, and pulled his kunai out of the tree. He sensed the glares but ignored them to give full focus on his sensei.

Minato made an effort to greet Obito before he turned serious and explained the mission, "There is a gambling ring near the border of the Land of Hot Water. Our intel states Bunta Shimura is the one behind the organization. Our job is to apprehend Bunta and disband the ring."

"Sounds easy enough," Obito commented. "Piece of cake!"

"Don't go letting your guard down already," the blond jounin stated, sounding amused by Obito's optimism. Kakashi rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "This is a B-ranked mission. It won't be as easy as you may think."

"How dangerous can it be, Sensei?" Rin asked, sounding doubtful on the mission rank. She must be thinking about the gambling card games with fat drunkards, Kakashi figured. Fat drunkards were probably still involved, but they were most definitely not playing cards if Kakashi and his team were assigned the mission.

"This kind of gambling is different than what you're familiar with," Minato answered, looking more solemn than he had a moment prior. "Bunta and his men are kidnapping young boys to fight one another. Mostly farmers' kids since they can't put up much of a fight against trained shinobi."

Rin and Obito gasped, but Kakashi stayed indifferent. Another important role of a ninja: one must not show emotions and let them get in the way of the mission.

"Now, if there are no more questions, let's head out. We'll come up with a battle strategy once we're closer and do some recon. I hope to get there by nightfall."

"Right!" the trio confirmed.

The sensei nodded his head and disappeared. Kakashi and his teammates followed suit.

.: - :.

The young girl stayed silent as she followed her papa through the halls of the building. She held her hands together in front of her which were covered by oversized sleeves of her silk kimono and her eyes were trained on the wooden floorboards on the ground. Her peripheral just barely saw the movement of her papa's and his assistant's feet in front of her.

"Look. It's that girl again," she heard a voice whisper as she walked by.

"What makes her so special?" a second voice inquired.

"I don't know. She's not even that pretty."

The young girl did her best to keep her hands down instead of instinctively forcing her red hair down to hide her face. Sara-san spent a lot of time putting pretty braids in her hair and pulling it up into this extravagant updo. The girl didn't want to ruin it, and she didn't want her papa to be upset.

They're lying, the girl tried to tell herself. You are pretty. Papa and Sara-san say so.

The girl didn't understand why she was always singled out by the servant girls or why they always sound so jealous. Was it because of the makeup the girl had on? Was it the designer kimono she was wearing? Maybe it was the jewelry her papa imported especially for her? These reasons are beyond the girl's control. They were not her fault, but the servant girls didn't see it that way, she guessed.

"What's her name again?"

"Tomiko, wasn't it?"

Tomiko, the girl, clenched her fists under her sleeves. She liked the pretty clothes and jewelry, but what she hated most was the attention that came with it. Seven years was how long Tomiko lived this lifestyle and now being eleven years old, she couldn't recall living any other way. Only vague memories of a past she sometimes believed she created from her own imagination.

"Tomiko, my dear. Keep your head up," her papa said. The girl looked up and made eye contact with the man. His gold eyes twinkled with delight when she looked at him, just like the jewelry he bought for her. He leaned forward and gently raised her chin with a finger. Tomiko tensed at the touch. "That's a good girl. Having good posture is an important trait for a growing young lady."

"My apologies, Papa," Tomiko responded, adjusting the way she was standing. "I'll do better."

She was so focused on her thoughts she didn't realize she followed her papa to a very familiar door. A door she was never allowed to enter. Her eyes traveled from the door to her papa who was alone now, his assistant gone from his side.

"I know what you're thinking, but we're allowed to break the rules sometimes," her papa commented and opened the door. Like the gentleman he said he was, he allowed Tomiko to enter first. Tomiko was hesitant at first but she stepped inside slowly.

The first thing Tomiko noticed was the massive, hand-carved desk placed right in the middle of the room. She wondered how her papa was able to get the desk through the door with how large and heavy it appeared to be. Next was the overwhelming smell of burning tobacco invaded her senses. The room was a little clouded from the smoke which started to burn her eyes. There was a beautiful armchair sitting high behind the desk and in front was two smaller leather chairs. Tomiko didn't feel anymore comfortable to see one of the chairs was occupied and the person sitting in it was holding a lit cigar.

Ungracefully, Tomiko covered her nose from the stench and let out a few dry coughs.

"Put that out," her papa scolded, smacking the back of the other man's head. "It bothers Tomiko. And open a window."

The man glared at the girl and begrudgingly put the cigar out. Tomiko looked away from the man's dark gaze and brought her arms close to her body. His eyes then panned to a figure standing beside him.

"You heard him, boy. Open the goddamn window." The man's voice was much more gruff and deeper than her papa's. The boy he was talking to didn't give any confirmation but moved to the window and threw it open. When the boy turned around, he made looked right at Tomiko, causing her to gasp.

The boy was older than she was, probably by a few years, but what startled her most was the condition he was in. Tomiko held her breath as she took in his bloodshot, blackened eyes decorated with purple bruising that stretched passed his cheek bones. He held a dirty rag to his left eyebrow and Tomiko was able to see some dried blood scattered on his face which continued to trailed down his shirt.

Tomiko heart stopped just at the mere sight of him.

"Tomiko, dear. Could you do me a favor?" The girl's green eyes darted back to her papa who was kneeling in front of her. She remembered when she would be eye-level when he did this, but now she was able to see over his dark, slicked back hair. He looked seemingly worried as he continued, "Do you remember your training with Aki-san?"

She nodded her head, swallowing hard. Her eyes continued to dart between her papa and the boy. She didn't like where this conversation was going.

"What was that?"

"Yes, Papa."

"Good girl." Her papa gestured to the injured boy. "I need you to clean him up. I have a job for him this evening, and I need him ready. Can you do that for me, please?"

"Yes, Papa."

"Thank you, dear." He grabbed a stray piece of her red hair and tucked it behind her ear. "Do you remember how to get to the room you and Aki-san train in? The one just down this hall?"

"Yes, Papa."

"I want you to take the boy there while my friend and I talk for a moment. Okay?"

"Okay, Papa."

"Good girl," he repeated with a smile. "I'll come get you in a little bit."

"You hear that, boy? You better be ready," the man's voice bellowed through the office. He seemed to be the opposite of her papa, aggressive and mean where her papa was gentle and nice. Even so, Tomiko wasn't sure which of the three to be scared of most.

The boy finally looked at her for the first time and looked at startled as she did when she saw him. She ignored it though.

"Follow me, please," she told him. She only looked at him long enough to see him register her words before she turned away and walked out of the office.

Author's Note:

I just wanted to be clear from the start that there is a reason why I rated this an M from the very beginning. Heavy gore or steamy sex scenes will not be in explicit in this story, but there are intense, mature themes and the occasional strong language that forces me to choose the rating I did. Please keep that in mind. If you have any questions regarding this, shoot me a PM and I can let you be aware without spoiling too much. I'm being vague on purpose.

I will try to update this regularly. I have the first six chapters written and the next few outlined. It will probably be every other week so that I have that buffer. Some chapters will be short, less than 1000 words, due to just how the chapters are laid out, but I try to keep the word count above 1500.

I am not opposed to having a beta. These themes are a little new to me and I want to make sure everything makes sense and sounds realistic (given the universe).

Also, if I'm misinterpreting anything in my writing or something doesn't make sense, please let me know. I'm trying to improve my writing so I am open to constructive criticism. If you write "you suck," at least add why. That's all. Thanks! :)