Prolog
Two men stood on either side of a small baby crib, the child inside was asleep with a series of seals drawn on its skin. There was a gold chain around its neck that had a small obsidian charm on it with another seal engraved into the stone. The floor around the crib was concrete with seals painted in blue paint on the floor. The taller man looked down into the crib at the child then asked.
"Do you think the child can contain it?" The other man shorter but with a deeper voice replied.
"The child has every seal its body can sustain. It will have a hard life, it is a cruel thing we did to the girl." They both remained silent for a moment then the taller asked.
"And the beast? Will she be able to control it?"
"Each seal takes from her chakra, but the one in stone shouldn't affect her chakra at all. It is also the finishing seal, these you see on her skin will disappear over time, but so long as she wears the stone seal the beast will never be able to break free from her body."
"That's not what I meant. Will she be able to be her own person with it in her? Exactly how do you plan to make sure she never takes off the stone seal?"
"That I do not know. But we can stress the importance of the seal to her for a few years before we must leave her to find her own way. Whatever happens, she must not know what she carries inside her, if they find her. Then our world will never be the same." With those ominous words the shorter of the two men walked away leaving the infant child sleeping in the crib, the other taller man followed with a glance back at the crib before he followed his companion.
13 years later
Kakashi was taking squad seven out for their first "mission" It was to recover a run away cat. As the group slowly advanced on the clump of bushes that they tracked the cat to, the bush shifted slightly. Naruto the bold energetic, and shortest one of the group herd Kakashi, his sensei give the order to catch the cat. Naruto jumped into the bushes to land on the cat and a rather surprised looking girl who yelled when Naruto landed on her.
"Wha!?" Naruto screamed holding the cat jumped back away from the girl. She groaned and got up. Kakashi walked over to where Naruto was, the rest of squad seven followed their teacher. Sakura looked confused as to why there was yelling, Sasuke looked bored.
"What were you doing!?" Naruto asked in a screaming tone. The girl now out of the bushes was a sickly thin girl the same age as the three in squad seven. She had long matted brown hair and wore big ripped clothing, she sported a rope belt to keep her pants up and had no shoes, her feet black from dirt and mud. Dirt smudged her face and clothing and she looked at the group with scared bright yellow eyes that had a thin lining of black around the edges of her irises. Dark circles around her eyes showed her lack of sleep. The only thing that showed she wasn't some homeless child was the gold chain that looped around her neck several times and bore a small stone charm with a seal cut in it.
"I was just petting it…" She mumbled out in a small voice.
"You stole the cat!" Naruto accused in a loud tone, the girl shied back away from him.
"Naruto that's enough. I don't think she stole the cat." Kakashi said walking past Naruto and the cat to stand in front of the girl. She shied back even more.
"Its alright I'm not going to hurt you. What is your name?" He asked in a kind voice, the girl saw no anger or hint in his one visible eye that he was going to hurt her, but that meant nothing to the girl.
"a-Aro…." She said softly.
"So why are you out here all alone Aro?" Kakashi regretted asking it the second after he asked, seeing her face turn into a mask of fear. He watched her look around with frightened eyes, she didn't say anything but seemed to be prepping to run if Kakashi got any closer. Thankfully it was Aro's thin body that gave him a way to change the topic when a loud growl went through her stomach.
"Here do you want to come eat lunch with us?" Aro clenched her stone charm with the seal cut into it.
"I cant give you my necklace, I need it." Kakashi felt pity for the girl if that's what she thought of when someone offered her to eat lunch with them.
"I don't want your necklace, but you look hungry and we have plenty of food back home." Kakashi said in a kind tone. Aro hadn't until now noticed the three her age behind the man were talking to each other. The girl with pink hair glared at the shorter of the two boys with the blond hair. The other boy with dark hair said something to the blond that made him mad and he yelled.
"Oh yea Sasuke! Like you knew there was a girl in the bushes!" Sasuke looked at Naruto and said.
"Shut up you dobe." Kakashi frustrated with his students gave them all a hard look that they all understood.
"So would you like to come have lunch with us?" Kakashi asked turning back to Aro. She shifted uneasy and gave a small nod.
"Ok lets go." Kakashi said in a final tone. The students fell in step behind their teacher and Aro followed behind them. Sakura the girl with the pink hair was the first to make contact with Aro.
"So why were you out here all alone?" Aro looked at her still uneasy and said.
"I have nowhere to go."
"Well where did you come from? Couldn't you have gone back there?" The girl stiffened then said in a soft mumble.
"It burnt down…." Sakura stopped talking she had no reply to that, it was odd finding the girl and then finding out she was homeless.
When the group arrived at Konoha, Kakashi explained that they had to take the cat back to the woman who lost it. They went to the mission assignment building where the woman was waiting, she was thrilled to see her cat again. Aro hid at Kakashi's side while this went on and when the woman left the man at the center of the long table wearing a strange hat asked.
"Kakashi, who is that?" The old man indicated Aro with his paint brush. Aro hid behind Kakashi more now that the old man had noticed her.
"We found her out in the forest when we were locating the cat. She came back to have lunch." He answered in a dull tone.
"That reminds me, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura. Why don't you three take Aro for some ramen." The three students understanding that Kakashi wanted to talk to the Hokage alone made to leave. Sakura went to Aro and took her hand and said in a cheerful voice.
"Lets go get lunch!" Then she looked down at Aro's arm and saw the line of a silvery scar running up her arm, then Sakura looked up at Kakashi, he gave a small nod. The group took Aro out to get lunch.
"Kakashi, what is the meaning of this? Why did you bring her here? There is an orphanage in the village." The Hokage said.
"Yes I know, but the girl isn't just an orphan, she is wearing a seal around her neck and is covered with scars. I don't think that we can just pass her off as some orphan, even if she is one."
"What are you suggesting?"
"I think she might be like Naruto, it is the only reason I can think for her to wear a seal around her neck." The Hokage sat silent for a moment thinking then said.
"Alright, it seems that if it is possible for her to have a possessing spirit she needs to be looked after. Congratulations Kakashi, you just got another student to train in your group. I am leaving you to look after the girl."
"You don't mean have her live with me do you?" Kakashi asked a hint of worry in his voice.
"That's exactly what I mean. I don't have Shinobi to spare for looking after an orphan. Since you were the one that found her, it only makes sense that you are the one to take care of her." Kakashi suppressed a groan of disappointment and nodded then left.
Squad seven took Aro to the ramen shop where they all ate ramen. Naruto was on his second bowl. Sasuke stopped after one bowl along with Sakura. Aro still on her first bowl ate slowly, clumsy with the chopsticks in hand. Eventually she just gave up the use of the chopsticks and picked the bowl up and drank the broth and eating the noodles that came with it. Everyone was silent for most of the time. Naruto broke the silence and said.
"Sorry about jumping on you like that."
"I'm alright…" She said setting her bowl down. She looked over at the three, Naruto sat closest, then it was Sakura, then Sasuke. Sakura was trying to start up a conversation with Sasuke but he was reluctant to talk. Aro noticed that from time to time he would glace at her.
Kakashi was waiting for Kurenai at the training grounds, he had no idea how to raise a child let alone a girl. When she arrived he explained what the Hokage had said and she nearly fell over laughing.
"Kakashi, you have no idea how to care for a kid, this is going to be fun for you." Kurenai said laughing.
"Yea I get that already, I need to know what I have to do. I asked you to come here to help me."
"First, you need to put away your romance novels, make sure its somewhere she wont find them. Second you need to make sure that wherever you decide to have her bedroom that it has a window and isn't filled with your stuff. You will need to get her new clothing, and some ninja gear. Its lucky for you that she is going to be staying with you since she is now in your squad. She probably doesn't know a thing about how to be a Shinobi. So your going to be training her around the clock. How about I just come with you and help you get started? It would be easier than me just telling you what you need to do." Kakashi sighed, he normally didn't let people into his home for the fact that he was sort of a pack rat, for books at least, and clearing the second bedroom out would be a trick in and of itself.
"Fine." He said leading Kurenai to where he knew his squad would be. When he and Kurenai got there squad seven was sitting at the ramen shop with little to no talking.
"Ok Squad, here is what is going on. Hokage wants Aro to stay and become part of the village. So she is joining our group, each of you will have to help get her caught up on the standard skills of a Shinobi. So that's that and there is nothing to do about it." Kakashi could tell that Sakura and Sasuke weren't up for having to train some orphan girl but Naruto looked more than willing to teach her.
"Aro come on, I want you to meet my friend." Kakashi said leading her towards Kurenai. Looking back at his original group he said.
"You three have the rest of the day off." Sasuke was out of his chair and walking down the street first followed by Sakura. Naruto stayed.
"Kakashi sensei where is she going to be staying?"
"She is going to stay with me, at least for now." Kurenai walked over and got eye level with Aro.
"Hi there. I am Kurenai, one of Kakashi's friends. I'm going to help you get settled here." Aro was uneasy when Kurenai offered Aro her hand but Aro eventually took it.
"Kakashi sensei, can I come help Aro get settled too?" Kakashi shrugged and said.
"Sure…" The two followed after Kurenai who was leading Aro towards Kakashi's house. When they got there Kurenai and Naruto were shocked at the amount of books in Kakashi's house. There were boxes stacked everywhere full of old romance books that he had read at one point or another.
"Dare we look at the second bedroom?" Kurenai asked Kakashi, he sighed and lead them farther back into the house to where the stairs went up to the second floor where there were two bedrooms and one bathroom. The second bedroom looked nothing like a bedroom, it was full of boxes of books stacked as high as the room would permit.
"There used to be a bed in here somewhere." Kakashi said looking into the room.
"Sensei! How can you have so many book!?" Naruto asked looking in awe at the room.
"Kakashi, these need to go." Kurenai said, looking at him with wide eyes. Aro didn't say anything but looked around the house, there were books in every room. Aro looked into the bathroom that was the third door down the short hallway.
"There are no books in there." she said indicating the bathroom. Kurenai sighed and continued.
"Kakashi, when was the last time you read a book from these boxes?" Kakashi had to take a moment to think then said.
"About three years ago, that's when the room filled up." Kurenai gave him a look that said " are you serious?"
"We are donating these, maybe even burning some of them." She said looking into one of the boxes filled with books that had graphic covers. Kakashi sighed, he had been meaning to getting rid of the old books, but never got around to it.
"Fine."
So a few hours went by of the four taking boxes of books outside Kakashi's home to a back ally where they would be stored until they could get the book store to take them back, or until they rotted away. The group started on the first floor and made their way up. Surprisingly the only rooms that were book free was Kakashi's bed room and the upstairs bathroom. The first floor was more of one big room with a bathroom tucked away in the corner, it was until now hidden behind boxes of books. By the time they finished the sun was beginning to set, the ally was filled to the brim with boxes of books.
"How the hell you were able to fit all of those boxes into your house is beyond me. And I don't think you will ever be able to put those boxes back in and get them all to fit." Kurenai said, the four of them were in the second bedroom, now Aro's room. There was one twin bed against the far wall under the window, it wasn't bent out of shape from the weight of the boxes because there were boxes underneath preventing it from bending. Aro was sitting on the bed looking out the window while Kurenai tried to brush her hair out, it was a slow process that wasn't getting anywhere, Aro didn't complain about the brush tugging away at her hair, she was looking out the window at the village around. Naruto sat next to her telling her about the village and pranks that he had done in the past. Aro made little to no comments about what Naruto said. Kakashi was standing near them, during the time when the group was moving the boxes of books out Kakashi had gone to get Aro some new clothing, He had come back with black sweat pants, and a dark blue T-shirt, he had guessed that Aro was a size small and was correct.
Once Kurenai had gotten Aro's hair brushed out Aro took a bath. She was taking her time enjoying the hot water, it was rapidly getting a dark muddy color from the grime that she was scrubbing away.
Kakashi, Kurenai, and Naruto sat in the kitchen drinking soda and talking.
"Kakashi sensei, why does Aro wear that seal necklace?"
"We aren't sure, but we think she might have a possessing spirit like you do Naruto." Kakashi said solemnly.
"But I don't have to wear a seal necklace thing. Why does she?"
"Like I said Naruto we aren't sure. We don't know anything about this girl, she might have been trained as a Shinobi, she might not have been. We have no idea where she is from, and she is reluctant to be near people."
"Naruto its our job now to not care about where she is from or why she has the seal necklace but rather make her feel at home here." Kurenai added on to what Kakashi said.
Aro walked downstairs then in her new outfit, her wet hair stretched past her hips and was a glossy dark brown color. She was surprisingly pale, and her arms showed a number of silvery scars. More were visible just peaking out from the collar of her shirt. Kakashi felt a sadness for Aro, what could have warranted those scars was beyond Kakashi. He herd a small gasp from Kurenai as she too saw the scars and Naruto's fists were clenched.
"Well Kakashi, I suppose its up to you now, I have to go, and I'm sure Naruto has things he needs to do as well." Kurenai said. Then she looked at Aro and said.
"I have to go now but I'll see you later." Aro gave a small nod and Naruto said his good bye and they left together. Outside Kurenai stopped Naruto and said.
"Keep and eye on her, and try to help her out. You two might have a lot in common."
"I will….Kurenai sensei, who would do that to her? Give her all those scars?"
"I don't know Naruto, but she is away from them now."
Inside Kakashi's home they sat at opposite sides of the kitchen looking at each other. Kakashi had no idea what to do, he wasn't good with raising kids like Kurenai was. She had at least done some babysitting in her teen years and would know how to handle kids. Kakashi spent all of his time reading books. They were defiantly not the type of books that would help him here. After what seemed to be an hour Aro said.
"I am staying?"
"For now at least."
"Oh….why?"
"I am on orders from the Hokage, he is the leader of the village. He thinks you should stay here, become a Shinobi."
"Oh…" Was all that Aro said this time. Kakashi decided to ask what he had asked squad seven when he first became their teacher, only he tried to make it sound casual and not like an interrogation.
"So what do you like?"
"Um…I like to make pictures in the sand." She said after a while of thinking.
"So why do you wear that necklace?"
"The people who took care of me gave it to me, they said it would protect me."
"Ah, where are the people who took care of you?" Aro looked down.
"Still in the burnt house, still trying to get out." Kakashi didn't say anything, he hadn't expected her to tell him that her guardians were dead. He realized that never once did she use the term, mother or father.
"I think we should go to bed, tomorrow we are going to train you to be a Shinobi." With that they went to bed, Aro sat in her room looking out the window, she unlocked it and pushed it open, looking out there was a way onto the roof from her window. Carefully she climbed out and onto the roof, it wasn't steep and it flattened out at the top. Aro climbed up trying to make as little noise as possible as she went. When she got to the flatter part Aro sat down and looked up at the clear night sky. She sat for hours waiting for the moon to move across the sky, eventually she curled up on the roof and fell asleep.
The next morning Kakashi opened Aro's door to wake her up and saw the bed still made and the window open. Walking over to the window he looked out and saw her on the roof asleep. Climbing out he went over to her, she had curled up into a tight ball and was sound asleep. Before Kakashi even made a move to wake her she sat up strait wide eyed looking at him. It was clear she thought she was in trouble and she said rapidly.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I should have stayed in my room, I'm sorry."
"Your not in trouble." Kakashi said trying to calm her. She looked confused for a moment then said.
"I'm not?"
"No. I was just wondering where you were and found you up here. Come on we need to get to training." They made their way to the training grounds to find that Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were already there waiting.
"Alright so for a while it is going to be different because we are all going to work on helping Aro to catch up with where you are now. I want you three to do three laps around the village and I am going to get Aro started on the basics." The original members of squad seven started out into the trees, Aro looked at them go in awe as they seemed to fly through the trees.
Kakashi showed Aro the basics and had her try them afterwards. She was a fast learner and she memorized all that Kakashi told her. Each task she performed at an advanced skill. Using her chakra to walk up trees was the only thing that gave her trouble. She had issues controlling her chakra and when she did wasn't able to do it for long. Kakashi sighed to himself as he sat in one of the taller trees watching Aro try and get up the tree. 'I knew there would be something flawed' He thought to himself
Aro liked the tasks given to her by Kakashi, they were fun and she had gotten them down quickly. But the tree task was hard for her, she couldn't focus her chakra to her feet. When she had gotten her chakra focused to her feet it only lasted for a few steps then she started to fall. She landed on her back again for the tenth time, sitting up she looked at the other trees around that were marked up from this same task, her marks were the lowest of them all, she wasn't able to do it. She kept trying by the time the other three members of her group finished their laps she had made no progress, she was sore from falling and she had issues keeping her hopes up that she would be able to do it. What made it harder was that she had developed a sick feeling in her stomach and it bothered her.
Kakashi called the group together and said.
"Alright, Sakura, Naruto practice sparing. Sasuke work with Aro, practice chakra concentration." Sasuke sighed but lead Aro back to the tree she was working at.
"That's all you have been able to do?" He asked with a superior tone in his voice. Aro wasn't scared of him as she was the other day, she was to tired to be shy.
"Shut up."
"What is wrong with you?"
"I don't feel good." Aro said leaning against the tree to keep from falling she was really dizzy now.
"To bad." Sasuke said, and as he said it Aro's stomach clenched and she hurled. Sasuke backed away from her, she had thrown up a mess of poorly chewed leaves and part of the ramen from the other day. Coughing she wiped her mouth clean, it was clear that she had made a lot of noise in the process because Kakashi, Sakura, and Naruto came over to see if she was alright. The students looked disturbed at the mess of leaves then at Aro. Kakashi lead her away from the tree and over to where a tree had fallen long ago and sat her down. The three Shinobi followed, Naruto asked.
"Why did you eat leaves?" Aro answered not looking at him, she was bent over her head supported in her hands.
"Because when you live without anyone to help you and no home or food you have to eat something." She was a little snippy but that was due mainly to the fact that her throat was burning and she still felt sick.
"If you had nowhere to get food then why didn't you just take some? Or get a job so you could buy some?" Sakura asked revolted by the idea of eating leaves.
"I don't steal if that's why your implying." Aro said a dangerous look in her eyes as she looked up at Sakura.
"That's not what I meant at all, I was just wondering why you never did that."
"Because I don't steal, I may be some pathetic orphan to you guys but I have morals and I don't need to steal to live." Kakashi sighed there was no stopping the girls argument and he didn't want to get between their "bonding" time.
"So you eat leaves instead of real food?!" Aro stood up ready to fight Sakura.
"Maybe you haven't starved for days on end to the point where you will eat anything to stop the pain in your stomach! Oh right I forgot you are a pampered little princess ninja that has had mommy and daddy there to give you everything! News flash cool-aid some people eat what they can to survive!" With that Aro turned to leave she started sprinting towards the trees leaving her squad in silence where the fight had commenced.
"What was the point of that Sakura! You knew she was an orphan and starving when we found her!" Naruto said then went running after Aro. It was useless Aro was long gone, she was a natural sprinter, and over all fast runner. In her anger she put all effort into getting up to the first branch of a tree deep into the forest. She was able to get to up the larger part of the tree to where the branches were thicker and she could sit with ease. She sat there for a long time wishing that there could be someone who didn't think her disgusting or pathetic. Aro sat in the tree for a long time she knew that Kakashi didn't really want her around, he was on orders. None of her squad wanted her there, she could tell that much. Aro wasn't used to being around people and she wasn't sure she liked it much, even her former caretakers were uneasy around her. She remembered how they went wide eyed when she had taken her seal necklace off once. She didn't understand why they were so scared of her, why she had to wear the seal necklace all the time. Her thoughts were interrupted when a voice spoke.
"You actually got up the tree." It was Sasuke.
"What do you want?" Aro asked with a glare to him.
"Well I thought you might want to come back to the village, but I can see you are at home here."
"You're a real jerk you know that."
"You cant tell that from knowing me for two days."
"So you only came to tell me to come back to the village?"
"If you want to think of it that way then sure."
"Why should I go? From the look of it I am just here to be turned into one of this villages Shinobi."
"Not really, Hokage isn't sure that you are safe to let wander around."
"Why is that?" Aro asked with a challenge in her voice. Sasuke just shrugged and left. Aro was tempted to run after him and continue the fight but she knew it could be taken wrong by anyone else watching. Instead she opted to wander through the village and see around. She didn't know it at the time but she would regret that action.
Wandering through the village Aro was making her way into the less populated areas, she saw a group of three girls and two guys walking up the street on the same side as her. Aro reverting to old habit tried to be less noticeable. Unfortunately for her it failed, and one of the girls pointed her out to the group. When they got close enough that they might have passed her they stopped and started talking to her.
"Hey, you're the orphan girl that Kakashi's group found right?"
"Yea…" Aro said quietly, she was uneasy the group was all around her now.
"Is it true that you haven't ever had training as a Shinobi?"
"Yea…." Aro said again trying to end the conversation but the girl didn't stop talking.
"Oh, so you totally skipped the beginning training. Why are you posing as a Shinobi? I think that you should be taught a lesson in how much pain a Shinobi goes through to become part of a squad." The girl finished looking at her friends, Aro understood what she meant and tried to run past one of the guys. He grabbed her and threw her to the ground in the middle of the group. They all came on her then with a shower of kicks. Aro curled up as best as she could trying to cover her head with her arms. One of her assailants foot caught around the long chain of her stone seal, pulling their foot back the chain snapped and the charm with the seal on it fell off. Aro panicked and tried to find the seal again. 'No! where is it? Where is it?' she thought frantically. A hard kick came across her back and Aro screamed, but the scream in its last legs turned into an unnatural laughter. The group stopped kicking her looking at the girl is amazement that she was laughing, Aro looked up at them with a wicked smile. She her skin had become a silvery color where burses hadn't started forming. She got up and looked around that them, her hands curled into claws with long sharp nails ending each finger. The group now very uneasy started backing away from her, the girl who had originally spoke to Aro turned to run and was attacked first. Aro jumped with an unnatural speed at the girl her feet landing on the girls shoulders Aro dug her nails into the girls neck her hands covered with blood. The girl tried to scream but her voice came out gargled and uneven. The other people in the group turned to run, and like the first girl Aro attacked them.
Unknown to Aro another person watched this event play out like some horror movie. They stood silent waiting for Aro to finish. Aro though was preoccupied chasing down the last one, one of the boys, he had the best chance to run and now Aro was gaining on him with rapid speed. When Aro had killed the last of the group with a horror she realized what she had done, Aro ran back to the original setting of the event and found her charm, she put it on the chain and tied the chain back together in a crude knot. Aro fled the seen to an ally way not far, she sat in the corner holding the seal between her hands and rocking slightly, she didn't realize that the demonic appearance was gone from her.
Aro looked up when she herd the approach of someone in the opening of the ally. She looked at the man with wide eyes and cowered into the corner of the ally.
"Don't fear me, I am not here to hurt you." The man said in a smooth voice, he was tall, pale, with long black hair that fell loosely around his shoulders. The most stunning thing Aro saw about him was his yellow eyes that were so similar to Aro's own eyes.
"What do you want?" Aro asked in an even voice though she was terrified still from the event that happened.
"I just came to see if you are alright. Thought you might want to talk." The man sat down across from Aro in the ally.
"I killed them…." Aro said to herself turning her face away from the man. Aro was an interesting sight, burses covered her skin a large black burse with some blue to it adorned her right cheek, blood covered her hands completely and most of her arms, her clothing was covered with dirt, blood, and ripped slightly. Her hair was tangled and again adorned with dirt and blood.
"They would have killed you. Why should it be a bad thing to defend yourself?" The man said. Aro turned and looked at him panic in her eyes.
"But they will get mad, they will all hurt me."
"You really think so? Why should they hurt you, you are becoming the little weapon they want."
"What do you mean?"
"The only reason they are training you as a Shinobi is to use you as a weapon, they know you are strong."
"But you are part of the village, why tell me this?"
"I'm not part of this village, I have my own village. I am only here to make sure they aren't doing anything they shouldn't be." The man was lying about most all of what he said to Aro.
"What should I do?" Aro asked hoping that she hadn't thought of all of her options already.
"You need to stay here, learn to be a Shinobi, become better than they are, then you can leave when you want. Go back to Kakashi and your team, act pitiful. They aren't going to hurt you, you mean to much to them." Aro got up and so did the man.
"Don't tell anyone I was here." Aro was already a few steps away from the man facing the exit of the ally when she stopped. Without turning she asked.
"What is your name?" She shivered slightly as the man whispered into her ear.
"Orochimaru."
When Aro got back to Kakashi's she walking inside to find him in the kitchen reading. He looked up at her the dropped his book and ran over to her.
"What happened?" He asked worried. Aro did as Orochimaru had told her a played up as pitiful.
"I was walking around the village then some people knocked me down and started kicking me…" Aro said tears forming in her eyes as she spoke, the tears surprisingly were real, recounting what