DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto and I am no way affiliated with the manga or anime

CHAPTER I

Haruhi

I am known by many names. The Ninja Shadow, Raven Rider, Shadow Dancer. However none of my names are as interesting as my real name, Haruhi Hyuuga-Ryouko. I'm a missing-nin, I guess. I never really think about it that way. I tell myself I had to leave my village, it wasn't my choice. Yet, I don't know if I believe myself.

I guess I should start from the beginning, it all started before I was born. Let me tell you, you know your life is shitty, when the problems start before you're conceived. Anyway, My father was Hajime Hyuuga the first son of the four Hyuuga sons. He was going to become head of the household, a great honour in the Hyuga family.

My second last name, Ryouko, is from my mother's clan. The Ryouko clan was one of the most feared clans in all of Fire Country. It was only a short ways off from Konoha, but the clan was secluded from all others. People from Konoha feared the clan because of their mysterious Kekkei Genkai, The Kage Odori or "Shadow Dance".

The Kage Odori allows the user to disappear into shadow and I mean disappear. They can become a mere shadow and walk around completely silent. You can ,of course, see their shadow, but they can walk in someone else's shadow or any other shadows and be completely hidden. It's the perfect way to sneak around anyone and get into anywhere. In the dead of the night a Ryouko can seep into the shadows completely unseen, unheard, undetected and come up behind your shadow and... well you get it. The Ryouko clan was payed large sums by villages to assassinate whomever, wherever and whenever. A Ryouko would kill anyone. They didn't even care if the person was innocent, that is how the Ryouko elders bred them. Konoha was against such ruthlessness.

The feared clan of Ryouko and the respected clan of Hyuuga, wondering how I got both clan's names? Well, I haven't spoke of my mother, only of her clan. From the stories I've heard she shouldn't be put in the same category. Her name was Misaki and was said to be one of, if not the, most beautiful in all of Fire Country at the time. She was also going to be head of her clan, however, she needed to marry first. Misaki wanted nothing more than to make her dear brother, Katsu, the head of the clan. He so desperately wanted to be, so much more than she did. A month before she was to be wed, she said farewell to her brother and fled the Ryouko District. Just outside of Konoha she met my father on his way back from a mission and fell in love. I was a love child, a bastard child, an illegitimate daughter, whatever you want to call it.

The two left their clans and fled Fire Country. The Ryouko clan searched for their bride-to-be but could not find her, they assumed she was dead, never had any Ryouko dared to desert their clan. Katsu believing he would become the head of the family was glad, he was the only one who knew where his sister really was. However the Ryouko clan made the man Misaki was going to marry, Juro, the head of the clan. Little did my mother know, that a month later, her entire family was slaughtered, by Juro's hand. The only one who escaped was her brother Katsu.

Hajime was reported to have died during his mission which he had never returned from. However, Hajime and a pregnant Misaki had already made their way past the Village Hidden in the Stones. My mother died in childbirth. I spent my first two years of life there, with my father.

It wasn't long before Katsu came for my father and I. He was tainted by bloodlust and rage. He blamed my father for his clan's death and his sister's. He thought if my father hadn't come and taken his sister away she would have been head of the clan, his clan wouldn't have been killed and he would not be alone. One day I found my father dead. My father was murdered by Katsu, I didn't know that then. Katsu told me he was my uncle and that something horrible had happened to my dear father.

I spent the next seven years with Katsu-oji-san. He never tried to kill me, in fact he loved me. The rage and bloodlust faded after killing my father. He treated me like a daughter he raised me lovingly. Sometimes I would find him crying over the picture of my mother. I thought it was just because he missed her, but I know now it was because he was sorry for what he did. I was too young to recognize the regret in his eyes, but I remember it now.

He trained me; he was an excellent sensei. He had been the strongest of the Ryouko. He trained my mind, and taught me taijutsu and ninjutsu. He even taught me how to master my Kage Odori.and summon my own raven. Around the time when I was seven eyes started to do strange things when I concentrated. I could see everything, chakra flow, things in distance but it was hard it gave me horrible headaches. Every time I felt my eyes do something funny,Oji-san would scream at me. Telling me I should never do that, but I couldn't stop, I had already tapped into my Byakugan. He stopped yelling after awhile, but I never liked the look on his face when I used it.

By the time I was nine I was a skilled ninja, a prodigy. I was a master at my Kage Odori and my katana. Though, my agility and brains were my strength, I was also strong. I was the perfect Ryouko in that sense, but Katsu-oji-san had not treated me like he had been treated. I was not bred to kill but raised to be just and kind. My skills were strong like a Ryouko's but my heart was not.

I was quite happy at this time in my life. That was until Oji-san got sick, very sick. On his death bed he told me what I have told you, everything. The funny thing was even then I wasn't mad that he killed my father, I was shocked yes. I still remember our last moment together...

I sat at the edge of Oji-san's bed. When did he start looking so old?, I thought, It can't end this way. I felt hot tears brim my eyes. I wouldn't dare let them fall, not in front of Oji-san ,not now. I didn't know what to say. This was the man who killed my father. Yet, as he sat there, begging me for forgiveness, telling me how he much regretted killing my father, I was not angry. I forgave him easily, he was my sensei, he raised me, I love him, to me he was the father I never really knew. I was scared of living without him.

"I'd understand if you wanted to kill me now, you probably could" he said, his voice wavering. Suddenly my tears brimmed over, I could not hold anything in anymore. I hugged him close. His body was freezing, he was dying

"I understand, its okay! I won't ever hurt you! I forgive you!" I sobbed "Please don't die!"I cried in into shoulder. I looked up at him his face was shocked.

"Please?" I begged. He sighed and his face relaxed

"Haru-chan, it is my time." he said simply

"But, why?" I asked tears rolling down my neck, now.

"It is the way it is, fate works in mysterious ways, but you have so much time left, Haru-chan. You mustn't waste it crying over someone like me." his voice was becoming fainter by the minute, but he was smiling. He pushed back her hair behind her ear affectionately, "I would not have wanted to spend the last years of my life with anyone but you. Remember, always, that our bond will never be broken, none ever can be. If I end up in the same place as you in the afterlife our bond will still be there. You are like a daughter to me, I love you Haru-chan." With his last faint voice, he said, barely audibly "You do not deserve the curse of having Ryouko in your name."

That was the end of the happiest point in my life so far. There are few things I cherish more than the first nine years of my life. The short time I spent with my father and Katsu in the tiny cottage just outside of the Village Hidden in the Stones, I was truly happy.

After Katsu died I'm pretty sure I stayed in the cottage for a while. I mourned mostly. I was nine years old when I buried my first body, the body of my uncle and first teacher. How depressing, but it would not be the last body I would bury. I didn't stay in that country for long. I took my mother's picture had a memento, remembering the countless times Oji-san had told me I looked just like her. After hearing Katsu's story I knew where I had to go. I had to see my other family, the Hyuuga clan. Now, I can't really decide if I regret going to Konoha or not.

Hoped you liked it! It gets WAY better and its my first fanfiction. At the monent i'm mostly setting the story up for while it won't have any main characters in it for a bit. It will probably only hint at some couples now but later on there should be kaka/oc ita/oc sasu/saku mostly. I would really love some feedback or advice/tips. Thanks :D