The Weight of Our Choices Chapter 1, a naruto fanfic

The Weight of Our Choices

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First things first, things you should know. This is Fem!Naru. If you don't like that ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. In this story, Hikari (Naruto) is about a year younger than in canon. So she is born the same year as Gaara and hasn't had her birthday yet. Next, Kyo is Kyuubi is Kurama. The history and everything will be explained in fully in a later chapter but for now there are just snippets.

"Is anyone hit?" Kyo shouted once the barrage had subsided. He had been separated from the group when they had unintentionally set off a multitude of traps.

"We're fine, just some cuts and-"

The rest of the sentence was cut off by a violent explosion that hurled the genin through the nearest trees and destroyed the surrounding landscape.

Kyo was the only one left unscathed as he had wrapped himself in a chakra cloak as soon as he had sensed the explosion. Cursing his luck, the demon raced towards where Hikari had been before the explosion, Minato's words replaying over and over in his head, 'If Hikari is close to dying, your chakra will be pulled back into the seal to heal her. But if she dies, you die.'

Those two situations had yet to be encountered and Kyo wasn't looking to find out how true all of that was. He never wanted to look upon that cage in all his remaining years!

The explosion had kicked up a minor dust storm that had yet to settle when he found the epicenter of the explosion; this made finding his useless teammates challenging but not impossible for the ancient demon. When he finally located his container, a scowl appeared across his unmarred face. The two were buried under the fallout of the explosion. From what he could see, it looked like they had been extremely close to the detonation site. From his vantage, he could only assume Hikari was unconscious as she wasn't moving for once in her life. He wasn't sure about Seka, there was a quarter of a chance he hadn't survived. Which would be unfortunate as Kyo considered him slightly above tolerable as he didn't have to hear his voice ever. His inward inclination went unanswered as the slight rise and fall of Seka's chest could be seen from where he stood. This brought up another matter.

'I thought this was supposed to be an exercise! That idiotic human could've killed them!'

Cursing Madara and Hashirama for getting him into this situation in the first place, Kyo cloaked himself in his chakra once again, using his tails to lift the heavier debris off his teammates. The mission was at a standstill until the two were awake and fit to move. Pulling Hikari out first, he checked to make sure her chakra and vitals were okay before settling her against one of the few trees that remained standing. Going after Seka next made him pause. Looking at the tiny human, he was reminded of his father's youngest son, Asura. His bandana had been blown off in the explosion revealing his spiky, chocolate brown hair. If he just added-

Shaking his head, Kyo growled at himself. This was not his father's son, he did not care for humans any longer. Never again, not after all they had done to his family.

Lifting the child up, Kyo set him on the other side of Hikari, not bothering to be gentle. Looking at how defenseless they were, Kyo entertained the thought of killing both of them right then and there. It would be so easy, a quick kunai to the heart and they would both be out of their misery. How he longed to feel the blood of his enemy's dripping down his hands, to feel their fear as they realized how pointless their struggle was. But he couldn't because of those blasted humans! He was stuck as one of them now, forced to protect his prison! Him, the most powerful of the bijuu, reduced to nothing but a bodyguard.

A flare of chakra broke him out of his tirade, reminding him of his position. They should be the only people out here so a flare of chakra was something to be keenly suspicious about. Positioning himself in front of his unconscious teammates, Kyo relaxed into what some would call an indifferent stance. He had his weight shifted to his left leg and his left hand resting in his pants pocket. His eyes told a different story; they were focused straight ahead, concentrating on nothing but the long stretch of darkness, dimly illuminated by the dying flames of the recent explosion.

The chakra was getting stronger so someone was heading their way, fast.

Whoever it was, they were just about to pass into Kyo's vision. He was prepared to incinerate the trespasser if it turned out to be Jiraiya. Ready to launch his attack, the redhead counted down

3…2…1…

43 hours earlier:

At 11 years old, Hikari was the youngest graduate of her class by a year. Sarutobi knew that there was no way he could hold her back for another year, she had to graduate this year. He was worried to let her out of the village, Jiraiya having informed him of the organization, Akatsuki, that were after the Jinchuuriki. They were a group of S-Classed rouge shinobi, a group Orochimaru was once a part of. The fact that his former student was once a part of this organization was what worried him. There were few things that held the snake's interest and the fact that he was with this group for a number of years was enough to cause worry. But with Jiraiya finally returning to the village, he had to allow her to graduate. With his eccentric student as her sensei, she would be the most protected genin in the village.

Hikari was already angry at him because of his refusal to allow her to graduate the year previous. Maybe with Jiraiya as her sensei, she would understand. The only other issue he faced with her was who her other teammate would be. There were not many options for her team which only needed one more person. They needed someone who had potential and whose personality would mesh well with the unpredictability of Hikari's and the aloofness of Kyo's.

There was only one graduate who fit those requirements. It looks like Jiraiya was going to have his hands full with this bunch. Payback for all those years of hell the pervert put him through!

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Happy that she was finally allowed to sit for the graduation exams, Hikari walked into the assigned classroom in her classic strut, gaining a few odd looks but fortunately, no one said anything, more worried about passing their test than some weird girl walking into the classroom. The written test caused her minor anxiety as she was not adept at taking tests and she didn't pay enough attention in class to remember a lot of the stuff. She felt confident on the questions about stealth and the shinobi system but she had no idea about the shinobi code or rules! She had had more important things to work on, like training.

The other two tests were fairly simple. The spar was quick and easy, she lasted the full five minutes required against the instructor. The last exam was by far the most intriguing. She had known about the three jutsu since she began living with Kakashi. She had scared him one day when she suddenly created twenty-five shadow clones. He about had a heart attack before he was able to question her on where she learned the jutsu. She happily told him that she saw Shisui practice it one day and was learning it in secret to surprise him before he had died. Kakashi made her promise not to use it unless he was around to supervise her. But she totally used it to finish her chores when he wasn't around.

The other two she had mastered with Kakashi's guidance early on in their training. He stressed that no matter how simple they may seem, they could one day save her life. Needless to say, she freaked Iruka, the instructor, out when she decided to create ten shadow clones instead of the academy clones. All he could do was hand her a headband which she gladly took, tying it around her neck.

Walking out of the room, Hikari decided to wait for Kyo to return as he had gone in after her. Looking around, she studied the rest of the genin hopefuls for the first time and saw a familiar face: Uchiha Sasuke. Glaring at him, she smugly tightened her new forehead protector. The Uchiha noticed what she was doing and the meaning behind it and fumed. Returning her glare, students began to back away from the two, afraid to get caught in the crossfire. They could feel the tension in the room rise, some of the weaker students too scared to move, the tension too great from them to bare.

Moving closer to her childhood rival, Hikari couldn't resist taunting him. "I guess being a boy isn't everything; only eleven and I'm already a genin, looks like I'm closer to being Hokage than you, To-ma-to." She leaned in closer to gloat and show off her shiny new headband. She was just inches from his face when she was suddenly knocked forward from behind. 'Wha-?'

It was like everything happened in slow motion: Kyo entered the classroom, calling out the next student's name who happened to be sitting in front of Sasuke. Nervous, the student rushed out of his seat, bumping into Hikari on accident, pushing her off balance as she had been leaning forward already. Unable to catch herself, Hikari could do nothing as she began to fall. She realized where she was heading milliseconds before it happened. Sasuke, caught up in his irritation for the blond, was too late to react fast enough to avoid the situation.

The entire classroom was shocked into silence as they witnessed the impossible: Sasuke was kissing a girl! In the back, money exchanged hands as students had to pay up on the bet that had been going on since the previous year that Sasuke wouldn't have his first kiss before the end of the Academy (if ever).

Coming to her senses after a full 10 seconds, Hikari pushed herself violently off of Sasuke. "You, you, you BASTARD!" People close to the two winced at the sound of the punch the blond threw at the last Uchiha. It sounded like it hurt. "You took my first kiss! How could my first kiss be Tomato!?" The fangirls in the room were torn between crying that they weren't Sasuke's first kiss or going over to that little harlot and tearing her a new one for daring to talk to Sasuke like that!

"It wasn't any better for me Kinpōge! Kami, I'm about to vomit." Sasuke even made show of gagging. Now, all of the students were in shock, either about the kiss or that Sasuke actually spoke. No one had seen much emotion out of the last Uchiha and here this mysterious girl comes in and not only kisses and insults him, but gets him to talk!

"What was that!?" Hikari was about to pounce on the smug boy when her shirt was suddenly grabbed from the back.

"What. Is. Going. On?" Came the deadly question from behind her. Each word emphasized with barely contained ire.

Not seeing everyone's petrified face as they stared at their teacher, Hikari turned around promptly to explain what the bastard had done and immediately froze as she finally took in the appearance of her instructor. There were few times Hikari would ever say she was truly frightened, like she could count them all on one hand! This definitely made her Top 5. Squeaking out a barely audible 'nothing', Hikari hurried to her spot next to Kyo who did nothing but glare at her and Sasuke, actually, the glare was focused mostly towards Sasuke.

Hikari silently thanked whatever higher power there was that this Iruka had not been her Academy instructor, he was terrifying! That was saying something as she lived with Kakashi and the Kyuubi for the past few years!

Seeing that everything was handled, Iruka went back to the connected classroom to finish the rest of the examinations. He returned a few minutes later to a quiet classroom. Satisfied that his students were finally behaving, he began his congratulations speech finishing with instructions to meet back here at nine o'clock tomorrow for their team assignments. With a final congratulations, he released them for a final time to go celebrate with their families. Reality came crashing down on the newly graduated students as they rushed out to find their parents and tell them of their achievement.

Hikari and Kyo walked out at a sedated pass, turning away from the painful scene to head to the Hokage Monument stairs. While she had come to terms with her parent's death, it still hurt that there was no one there to congratulate her. There was a time…but no, it was in the past and nothing worth dwelling on. Kakashi had left for a mission a few days ago so was unable to make it and while it disappointed Hikari, she understood that her guardian was an important member of the shinobi force and was needed elsewhere. What was the happiness of one little girl compared to the safety of the entire village? As they walked out, she caught a glimpse of Sasuke walking alone towards the Uchiha Compound. He was like her, no one to celebrate this important day with.

No matter how much the massacre had affected her, Hikari knew Sasuke had it a hundred times worse. Her sorrow-filled eyes followed him as he bypassed the large congregation, no one attempting to say anything to the last Uchiha. She made to go after him when Kyo suddenly tugged her back, telling her they had to go. Letting her friend drag her, Hikari chanced to look back one more time but Sasuke was already gone.

Kyo growled in his head. There was no way he was letting that Uchiha brat near Hikari! They had already caused enough damage as is. The only reason he would willingly get close to an Uchiha would be to kill him!

They spent most of the night on top of the Hokage Monument working on Hikari's control of Kyo's chakra. She couldn't use much without losing control and Kyo wanted her to be able to use it like it was her own. The better able she could handle it now, decreased the likelihood of her losing control when he wasn't around and dying.

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Like Iruka instructed, they returned to the same room the next day at nine o'clock. Walking into the building, Hikari was greeted by glares from most of the female population. It seemed what happened yesterday got around. Getting to the designated classroom and picking the furthest seat up so she didn't have to deal with the glares, Hikari plopped down next to a boy with a dog on his head. It didn't stop the glares as the perpetrators just turned around in the seats to look at her. Huffing at the insensibility of the female population and their unhealthy obsession with Sasuke, Hikari was relieved when Kyo's glare frightened everyone enough to turn back around.

Walking into a subdued classroom, Iruka was slightly worried but figured that the freshly promoted Gennin were beginning to realize the enormity of the situation and were beginning to mature. Satisfied that they were finally taking his lessons to heart, he began to read out the team assignments, pausing so each team had a chance to let the information sink in before he called the next one. Hikari ignored the commotion of the team assignment as she didn't know any of these people, she just listened for her name to be called off.

"Team 7: Uzumaki Hikari, Ōtsutsuki Kyo, and Maeko Seka. Your sensei is Jiraiya." Many students who paid attention and knew who Jiraiya was, glared jealously at the three teammates. Hikari didn't care that much but she was curious about their new teammate. She thought for sure the old man was going to put Sasuke on her team just to spite her. She was able to find Seka easily as the students were sending him glares. Personally, Hikari didn't think he looked like much from the back. From what she could see, he wore a bandana that covered most of his head but his hair was long enough that it was sticking out past the cloth.

It seemed like he was also curious about his teammates as his head was moving around, scanning the classroom for the two foreign names. When she saw him, Hikari tried not to react. On his left cheek was what looked like a scar in the shape of an X. She had seen plenty of scars like that though, no, what shocked her was his other scar that was partially hidden by his forehead protector around his neck. It was a wound that should've killed him if done right and if done incorrectly, it would cause the victim tremendous pain.

Seka had long since turned back around but Hikari barely noticed. All she could think about was that someone had tried to kill her new teammate at some point in his life. She was shocked into attention though when she heard Kakashi's name called out as an instructor. Looking to Kyo, he didn't seem that surprised. Lamenting the fact that her guardian had a genin team this year, Hikari missed the rest of Iruka's talk, not that she noticed. When students began to leave, she finally shook herself out of her thoughts.

"What's going on Kyo?" Truly curious as she hadn't heard a word Iruka said after he mentioned Kakashi's name.

"If your pathetic human mind could pay attention for more than five minutes you would know!" Growling when his container gave him a blank look, he continued. "We are to wait here until our sensei picks us up."

Nodding, Hikari focused on the empty seats next to their new teammate, ignoring the grumbling about Hokage's who thought they had some kinda power over him. Grabbing Kyo's hand, she led him down the stairs to her newest target. Angered that he was being treated like some child, Kyo wrenched his hand from Hikari's grip, throwing her a glare which no longer seemed to faze her.

Seka, noticing the two waiting for him, looked up and shared a small smile which was only returned by the exuberant blond.

In her politest voice, Hikari asked if they could sit next to him. Kyo, feeling someone looking in their direction, saw Sasuke throwing an incredulous look at his female companion. It made him want to chuckle. Hikari was never polite around Sasuke, the only time she had been was when they first met five years ago. Sasuke saw Kyo's smirk and his face darkened while Kyo's grin became wider.

Seka motioned for them to sit down which Hikari gladly did. Kyo kept an eye on her though wondering what was going through her mind, she was rarely this open to new people. She had made an amazing recovery from the killings and attacks that took place a few years ago, which was mainly due to Kakashi's influence, but there were times when he could sense something was wrong, a darkness buried deep inside. He knew she was hiding how damaged she truly was but it wasn't really his problem. He was there to make sure she stayed alive, not be her shoulder to cry on!

Hikari started asking questions before she even fully sat down. It was overwhelming for Seka as he could barely follow what she was saying let alone respond to her.

All of a sudden Hikari found a hand in her face. Pausing, she looked at what was wrong with her new teammate. Seka closed his hand and held up one finger before he turned his attention to the chalkboard in front of him. Hikari studied his actions before she came to a startling conclusion: Seka couldn't speak!

Her thoughts were confirmed when he finally held up his small chalkboard. On it was, Not to be rude, you were talking so fast and didn't look like stopping. I can't talk so I use this to communicate. Sign language is easier though.

Embarrassed, Hikari said her apologies before asking if he could teach her some sign language while they waited for their sensei. Seka's smile took over his entire face at her request. Not many people asked to learn sign language and/or had the determination to stick with it. Shikamaru was the only one with whom he could hold conversations with using only sign language, not that the boy was awake enough for him to talk to.

Slowly, he began to show her the basics: hello, bye, hungry, follow me, stop, please, and thank you. Using both his hands and his board to teach her, Hikari had most of the signs down by the time a majority of the other teams were gone.

It was going on 11:30 when the door finally opened. Each of the two teams left waited in anticipation for whose sensei it would be: Kakashi or Jiraiya?

Seeing the gray hair, Hikari slumped forward, it was Kakashi. How could Kakashi beat her sensei here?! No one could be later than Kakashi!

"My first impression of you," looking at the glares directed at him, Kakashi continued, "You're annoying. Meet me up on the roof." Before he could disappear, he noticed the other group besides his team.

"Why are you here, Jiraiya told me he was going to meet you at Training Ground 27?" Kakashi was not prepared for the glare sent his way by Kyo. Bringing his hands up in front of him as a sign of peace, he tried to calm the irate demon. "Mah mah, I'm sure it was an honest mistake. I'll even have Pakkun take you to him."

He had never gotten along with the child demon, it was hard to forget that he had killed his sensei but he was able to tolerate him when Hikari explained that he couldn't hurt her as he was still connected to the seal. It didn't mean Kyo couldn't hurt the village so Kakashi made sure to keep an eye on him whenever he was in the village. He had told Jiraiya the same.

"No need, Inu." The name had been said with disgust. "I can find our sensei just find. My sense of smell is superior to that of your pathetic mutt." That insult turned it into a glaring match between the two. The remaining four looked on in a mix of amazement and horror that a genin would dare talk to a jōnin like that. Hikari, though, had had enough. She was sick of the constant tension that existed around the two.

"Stop it! There was no need to insult Pakkun, Kyo. Thanks for telling us where Jiraiya is, we'll meet up at home, yeah?"

"Normal time and place." With his signature one-eyed smile, Kakashi then disappeared leaving the rest of the genin shocked at the complete 180 of his personality.

Team 9 eventually followed their sensei's instructions and made their way to the roof while Seka tapped Hikari on the shoulder and signed a question mark.

Figuring what it meant by the look he was giving her, Hikari began to explain as Team 7 also made their way out of the classroom. "Me and Kyo live with Kakashi, he's like my guardian. They don't get along though." She left the longer version for later.

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Meeting Jiraiya didn't go so well for the three genin. It turned out that Jiraiya was not at Training Ground 27 but peeping at the onsen that was across from it. Disgusted at her new sensei, Hikari marched up behind him with a kunai. She had no problem with him being a prevent, her guardian read those books, but the fact that he would rather peep on women than pick up his team did not put him in her good graces. She refused to let teachers treat her like a second-class nobody.

Kyo watched with amusement. He knew exactly who Jiraiya was. He had been quite close with his previous container; he had also read up on him and his teammates. Jiraiya was no pushover, Kyo had learned the toads had been training him in the Sage Arts for some years now. It was rare for a shinobi to learn the Sage Arts nowadays. To his knowledge, the Toad Sannin might be the only one alive capable of it. Hikari had no chance of getting any kind of advantage.

Seka, meanwhile, watched his teammate approach their sensei, conflicted on what to do. On one hand, Jiraiya should be able to sense them as he was one of the strongest Shinobi in the Elemental Nations but on the other, what if he didn't want to teach them because of her stunt? It was too late for him to do anything as Hikari was already behind the large white mane, ready to pounce.

Bringing the kunai down, Hikari was stunned when her hand was abruptly stopped and her face shoved into the ground moments later.

Seka was frozen in bone-chilling awe. He had never seen someone react with such speed and agility before! It looked effortless on the attacker's part, which Seka believed 100% to be true. This man was going to be his sensei…his sensei! While he hadn't been rookie of the year, he had still been one of the best in the Academy. So to see the difference in power level between a genin and jōnin first hand was mind-blowing.

Jiraiya, having sensed the three genin approach decided not to do anything. He wanted to see what they would do, judge them for himself. To say he was surprised when Hikari actually attacked him would be an understatement. Then again, this was Kushina's daughter, so it shouldn't have surprised him as much as it did. Her technique was sloppy from what he could see but still good for an 11-year-old. Wasting no more time, he quickly disarmed his goddaughter and buried her face into the ground. Wincing, he knew there was going to be retaliation for that if what Sarutobi told him about her was true.

"So, you're the new brats? I've seen better." Jiraiya knew he was being harsh but he wanted to test Kyo to see if he would be a problem. "Anyway, you guys are late."

For the first time, Seka let his frustration show; Jiraiya could barely make out what the kid was signing but held back a chuckle when he got the gist of it. He would be fun to train that was sure.

Sensing danger, the sage raised his armored hand to block the blow aimed at his neck. Looking to see who his attacker was, he was surprised to see Hikari. Glancing down, he felt himself smile: he was sitting on one of the sandbags from the onsen. Before he could comment, Jiraiya had to block another strike, this time from below. Seeing as both his hands were now preoccupied, the Sannin decided enough was enough. It was time for proper introductions.

Flinging the blond to her teammates, he motioned them to follow. Seeing the change in behavior, the student's did as ordered.

Jiraiya led them to Training Ground 27, motioning for them to take a seat on one of the larger stones that littered the ground.

"Now that that's out of the way, how about introductions? We're going to be a team, so it's important for us to know each other inside and out. The unit can only survive with teamwork and teamwork comes from understanding each other. So I'll start off. I'm Jiraiya and you guys are my second genin team, my last one being almost 20 years ago. My goal is to make sure all three of you survive." Letting everything sink in, he addressed Hikari. "Blondie, you next."

"You forgot to mention pervert," Hikari grumbled when she was chosen.

"What was that!? I am not a pervert!" This confused the kids and former demon, they had just seen him peeping! "I'm a super pervert!" Dead silence followed his proclamation, the disbelief hard to overcome.

'I take everything back about this man…how the hell did he train that blasted Yondaime?' Kyo thought while thinking of ways he could kill the man without Hikari finding out.

"That doesn't make it better!" Hikari was flabbergasted that the old man would give her a sensei like this, even if he was considered one of the strongest to come from Konoha.

'I think those books left some things out.' Seka thought. But there was something familiar about the man, he couldn't help but feel like he had met him before. He knew that that wasn't possible as the man hadn't been in the village for some years.

"Well, are you going to introduce yourself Blondie?" The deep voice broke everyone out of their thoughts, remembering why they were here.

"I'm Uzumaki Hikari. Uhh…What else do you want to know?" Hikari was slightly embarrassed; she had never introduced herself to someone before. When she lived with Shisui and then Kakashi, they learned about her by their interactions so there was no need for her to tell them.

"Let's make it simple: your dreams, skills, and anything else you think is important."

"That's easy: Kakashi has been training me in stealth, I'm really fast and good with traps. I actually have two dreams: I am going to be the first female Hokage!" This made Jiraiya bite his cheek to stop his laughter. He remembered Minato telling him how Kushina had declared the same dream back on her first day in the Academy. He was curious about her second dream though. "I also want to find Uchiha Itachi and ask him something."

Jiraiya and Seka looked at her like she had just proclaimed her love from Orochimaru. Seka once again signed his confusion and shock, while Jiraiya stared at her in disbelief. "Do you have a suicide wish or something!? Uchiha Itachi murdered his entire clan and you think you can just approach him to ask a question?"

"I am not an idiot. I know who and what he did; I knew him before the massacre. There are things only he knows, questions only he can answer. I know the danger." She gained a faraway look in her eyes at this. She was remembering the night he died. She hadn't realized it then, but Itachi had known too much about Shisui's death when his body had only just been discovered. His words also didn't make sense; he had said something about a mission going wrong but Shisui hadn't been on a mission that night as far as she was aware, he had just successfully returned from one.

There were too many unanswered questions and Itachi was the only one who could answer them.

Deciding to break the tense silence, Jiraiya called for Kyo to go next.

"My name is Kyo and my mission is to protect Hikari and kill a certain masked Uchiha." Kyo didn't elaborate any further, daring Jiraiya to say something. He was well aware that Jiraiya knew who he was and what he was capable of. While he tolerated Hikari, the other humans were not so lucky.

Not rising to the bait, Jiraiya indicated for his final student to introduce himself; Seka had already begun to write everything down before Jiraiya finished talking. Flipping his board over, he let the others read. My name is Maeko Seka. I have been mute since I was 6. I am a sensor and I have been working on minor doton jutsu's. My dream is to be a great shinobi and show people that my disability is not a disadvantage.

Nodding his head, Jiraiya was impressed with his two students, it wasn't often fresh out of the Academy genin had such clear mindsets on what their strengths were. On the other hand, he had mixed feelings about Kyo and how he should approach him. "Right, so your first training exercise as a team is survival and it starts…now!" The three disappeared in a plume of smoke, Jiraiya following moments later.

Earlier in the morning, he had set up a specific area in the surrounding forest for this particular training. It was going to test their teamwork, strength, and their ability to think on their feet. He had done the same with Minato's team, with a slight reprimand from Sarutobi about the dangers of the exercise. The bell test of overrated anyway, at least to Jiraiya.

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Appearing in what seemed to be the outer forest, if the dense trees were any indication, Team 7 began to survey their surroundings. It was Kyo who first noticed the scroll at their feet. Picking it up, he read out loud.

-Survival Training-

I will pick you up at 04:00 tomorrow morning. This is a stimulation of a real mission into enemy territory. Your only weapons will be what's on your person. Gathering food and water is up to you. Remember, you are a team in enemy territory.

Jiraiya

"It's safe to assume that by enemy territory he means there will be traps set up, so be on guard." Kyo was the first to take charge.

I can find most traps with chakra. I can lead you to them to dismantle. We'll need to set up a camp somewhere safe.

"What is the point of this?" Seeing a tick mark appear above her partner's eye, Hikari hastened to finish her thought. "On a mission, don't you move constantly? You go from X to Y, right? Well, we're at X but where's Y?"

That…was actually a good point.

Seka thought for a few seconds before he began to scribble quickly. I'm guessing we're outside the village, right? So maybe our objective is to get to the village.

The other two nodded in agreement, though Kyo's was more of a dismissal.

"Now that we have the mission, we need a plan of attack." Motioning for Seka to come closer, Kyo began to explain. Being hundreds of years old did have its perks. "First we need to establish what all we have."

The three pulled out their weapon pouches and anything else they had: kunai, shuriken, ninja wire, multiple exploding tags (Hikari gave a sheepish grin at those), smoke bombs, scrolls ink/brush set, and flares.

Seeing that the sun was still pretty high, Kyo guessed it was slightly past noon. This gave them twelve or so hours in which they had to survive out here.

"Let's find some food and water first. It's past lunch, we need our strength if we're going to last the night out here. From what I remember, there are a few streams that run a few miles outside the village walls. There's no telling how far out we actually are so we need to establish a rough position."

Hikari and Seka both agreed with Kyo, letting him take the lead role as he seemed to know what he was doing, at least that's what Seka was thinking. Hikari was just used to letting Kyo take the lead on certain things.

East of the village lies denser forests with little to no settlements. The farther north, the more mountainous while the west has many roads for trade. Hikari was amazed that Seka knew so much about the area surrounding the village. My father was a merchant, my mother a kunoichi. That was all he wrote.

"Can you sense anyone nearby?" Kyo decided to be less hostile to his new teammate. There seemed to be nothing wrong with the boy and he was proving quite useful.

Focusing, Seka placed his hand on the ground. Unlike many sensors, Seka used the ground as a conductor for his abilities. Finding no human chakra, he shook his head to his teammates.

Looking towards the sky, Kyo saw that the sun was finally beginning to move. "We will go west, this way. The trees here are older, denser. So the village is somewhere to the west of us. We'll set off and look for water and food on our way."

Agreeing, all three took off towards the west with Hikari making two shadow clones that took off to the north and south.

Some distance away, Jiraiya appeared with an impressed look on his face. They were quick to figure out the objective of the mission while using geographical knowledge to deduce where they were at. This was an important skill that many people overlooked. If there was one thing he had learned during the wars, it was to always know where you are. Accidentally walking into enemy territory was a sure way to die.

Their ability to become a cohesive group also astounded him. Hikari and Kyo, he expected as they have been together for a while. It seemed Seka was easily accepted into their group making things less complicated for him. Grinning, Jiraiya took off after his students.

By nightfall, Team 7 had covered what seemed like miles before they found a stream and set up camp. Hikari set up traps around the small perimeter while Seka collected branches and Kyo got the water and food.

As none of them had eaten since before 9 that morning, it was decided that they would light a small fire to make dinner before smoldering it. One of the first survival skills is knowing when to make a fire, as it could easily give away your location to the enemy.

Small talk followed after dinner. Hikari was the first to point out that Seka didn't know anything about them so that led to them sharing stories, more Hikari and Seka than Kyo but he did join in a few times. Seka was sure Kyo was exaggerating; what genin could have fought the Gyuki and won! But he didn't seem like someone who made up stories like that. Turning to look at Hikari, Seka noticed she was listening with rapt attention, hanging on to every word that came out of the redhead's mouth.

He bit his right index finger, a nervous habit he picked up as a child. Interacting with his newfound team reminded Seka of his lonely childhood. He had constantly been ignored by the majority of the population because they didn't understand sign language. Many people became frustrated with him when he tried to explain his desires, he was a disabled nuisance who had no business becoming a shinobi; those were the whispers that followed him around.

There were few who knew his form of sign language. A Nara had become his tutor five days a week in ninja sign language when he first came to the village. The Nara, Yuri, had been patient and even taught him the forms practiced in other countries.

He wanted to show his new teammates that he wasn't useless like many pegged him to be and this exercise was his opportunity.

With the fire smothered and the traps all in place, Hikari and Kyo settled down to get some rest. Seka was taking the first watch, then Hikari, and then Kyo who had the best vision in the dark.

Jiraiya watched them all night, noticing how none of them so much as dozed off during their watch. Satisfied, he went around to check the quality of Hikari's traps. They were pretty impressive. He saw that she was dabbling in seals, not enough to be dangerous but still impressive for someone her age.

Kyo woke his two teammates up around 2 o'clock if his internal clock was to be trusted. That left them two hours to get to the village. Checking the traps, Hikari salvaged what she could from them and took the rear position. Seka was placed in the middle as his eyes were not as good as her and Kyo's in the darkness.

Kyo was becoming weary, they had yet to run into any real danger or test. While he may not know much of the Sannin, Kyo knew that this was not normal. This was meant to test their teamwork in high-stress situations. Was the toad trying to lure him into a false sense of security? Regardless of the man's plan, Kyo planned to be ready. Now the question was, who was really being tested here?

Sprinting through the trees at night was not ideal, Seka thought. If this was a real mission, how would he be able to communicate with his teammate? There was no light for them to see his hands and no time to write anything down. Not wanting to go down that road again, Seka instead focused on his task. Kyo had trusted him with sensing and targeting any foreign chakra signatures resembling traps; there were traps around the area, he could sense the lingering chakra in some of the exploding tags.

Increasing his speed so he could catch up with Kyo, Seka motioned ahead of them with two fingers and an exploding motion. Kyo, catching on, indicated for Hikari to avoid the areas Seka pointed out. Passing by without setting off the exploding tags, Seka let out a brief sigh: he was useful.

The encouragement was short-lived though; as soon as they passed the tree with the exploding tags, they were assaulted by a barrage of kunai. Moving quickly, the three genin managed to evade most of the weapons, getting only superficial wounds.

"Is anyone hit?" Kyo shouted once the barrage had subsided. He had been separated from the group when they had unintentionally set off the multitude of traps.

"We're fine, just some cuts and-"

The rest of the sentence was cut off by a violent explosion that hurled the genin through the nearest trees and destroyed the surrounding landscape.

Those two situations had yet to be encountered and Kyo wasn't looking to find out how true all of that was. He never wanted to look upon that cage in all his remaining years!

The explosion had kicked up a minor dust storm that had yet to settle when he found the epicenter of the explosion; this made finding his useless teammates challenging but not impossible for the ancient demon. When he finally located his container, a scowl appeared across his unmarred face. The two were buried under the fallout of the explosion. From what he could see, it looked like they had been extremely close to the detonation site. From his vantage, he could only assume Hikari was unconscious as she wasn't moving for once in her life. He wasn't sure about Seka, there was a quarter of chance he hadn't survived. Which would be unfortunate as Kyo considered him slightly above tolerable as he didn't have to hear his voice. His inward inclination went unanswered as the slight rise and fall of Seka's chest could be seen from where he stood. This brought up another matter.

'I thought this was supposed to be an exercise! That idiotic human could've killed them!'

Shaking his head, Kyo growled at himself. This was not his father's son, he did not care for humans any longer. Never again, not after all they have done to his family.

A flare of chakra broke him out of his tirade, reminding him of his position. They should be the only people out here so a flare of chakra was something to be keenly suspicious about. Positioning himself in front of his unconscious teammates, Kyo relaxed into his preferred stance. He had his weight shifted to his left leg and his left hand resting in his pants pocket, to an outsider it would seem like he was unconcerned but his eyes told a different story; they were focused straight ahead, concentrating on nothing but the long stretch of darkness, dimly illuminated by the dying flames of the recent explosion.

The chakra was getting stronger so someone was heading their way, fast.

Whoever it was, they were just about to pass into Kyo's vision. He was prepared to incinerate the trespasser if it turned out to be Jiraiya. Ready to launch his attack, the redhead counted down

3…2…1…

It was like everything froze for the demon. Never, in all his centuries had he seen anything as disturbing as this! Was it even human? The green, the conforming spandex, the hair! Could it get any worse!?

What had horrified Kyo was the appearance of a green spandex wearing man walking on his hands, Maito Gai.

Noticing the destruction around him, Gai paused in his daily routine, becoming alert to exactly what happened to the area around him. He narrowed his eyes when he spotted the small redhead standing in front of, Gai presumed, his teammates.

"My youthful companions, have you been attacked?"

Seeing the man wasn't a danger, he remembered seeing him around Kakashi's apartment apparently his name was Gai, Kyo removed his hand from his pocket. He still had his weight shifted in case of an attack, something Gai noticed.

"Just our dumbass sensei leaving these fucking trip-explosives everywhere. We're fine." Kyo growled out, not happy about the situation and the object of his frustration not being near.

Gai was hesitant to leave the three genin alone, he recognized the blond and red hair right away; these were Kakashi's kids and that meant their sensei was Jiraiya. Something must have gone wrong in their training exercise for this level of damage to have occurred.

He was about to offer his help when both shinobi felt the Sannin's presence appear in the clearing.

Kyo was quick to throw his hidden kunai, backing it up with his Flaming Fist. Jiraiya expected something like this when he entered the clearing and blocked it easily. Holding his student's hand in a bruising grip, Jiraiya indicated for Gai to leave which he reluctantly did.

Directing his attention back to the redhead, the aged Sannin was impressed with what he had seen. Kyo had exceeded his expectations. While the explosion had not been part of the plan, the fact that Kyo had rescued and defended his teammates when they were defenseless instead of killing them said wonders about his progression.

"If you're done attacking me, I would like to check on the rest of my team."

"Are you trying to blame me?! You're the fricken idiot who set up a barrage of kunai across from exploding seals! Who does that?"

For the most part, Jiraiya ignored the furious genin but he did have a point. He had overlooked the fact that these were genin. There was no way Seka or Hikari could've sensed that attack. He had overestimated their abilities because of Kyo. He wouldn't do that again. The two unconscious children looked okay for the most part, Hikari was mostly healed while Seka had a suspicious looking head wound and blood coming from his ear. A ruptured eardrum and maybe a mild concussion. It would be best to take them to the hospital.

He picked up Seka and ordered Kyo to carry Hikari, who was the smaller of the two. They were a five minute run from the village. They hadn't realized how close they had been, within a kilometer.

Kyo, knowing the reaction Hikari would get at the hospital, took her to their apartment instead. He knew she wasn't seriously injured; he would feel it otherwise. He would leave Seka in their sensei's hands for now.

"And that ape is supposed to be one of the greatest Konoha shinobi?" He scoffed in disbelief as he laid Hikari down on her bed. He gently moved the stray hairs off her face. She'd need a bath when she woke up but beyond that, she should be good.

Kakashi was lucky he wasn't home or he would be getting an earful, demanding answers on why such an irresponsible person was put in charge of Hikari. As it was, the only person in the apartment was Hikari. He did gain some pleasure from disobeying Jiraiya though; the man was probably only now figuring out Kyo hadn't followed him to the hospital.

It was 04:30 and he was tired.

…

"I'm looking for Uzumaki Hikari. She should've arrived right after me."

The nurse manning the front desk gave Jiraiya a tight, apologetic smile. "I'm sorry sir, no one came in after you."

He knew he should've kept an eye on that brat. It seemed there was much he still had to learn about the trapped demon. The first thing: his intentions towards his goddaughter.

"Thank you." It proved how distracted the kid had made him that he didn't once check out the hot nurse in her uniform.

'Is it just him or am I that rusty? Minato was never this difficult.' Jiraiya struggled through his thoughts, trying to remember his first days with his second team. 'Then again, Yahiko was rather difficult.' His thoughts turned towards his first team from Ame.

It was easy to locate the remaining two-thirds of his team. The only logically place Kyo would take Hikari was their home.

Looking into the bedroom window, he was met with the sight of Hikari tucked in with Kyo at the bottom of the bed. Seriously, their dynamic confused him. He had concluded that Kyo was the leader of their weird duo and Hikari followed his lead but looking at the two now and remembering Kyo's introduction, he'd say Hikari held the most control. They had to have a give-and-take relationship. His talk with Kakashi would need to happen sooner rather than later.

"Do you frequently linger outside young girl's bedroom windows?" The voice startled him. He had thought Kyo was asleep. He was good. Red eyes met his black ones.

"Only when trapped demons take away my goddaughter."

Red eyes blazed with fury. "I may not be able to kill her but there are no restrictions on anyone else."

"What're you playing at? Why do you care for her?"

That was something Kyo was still trying to figure out for himself. She did things to people. You only had to know her for a few minutes before she had you in her web.

"You know the seal used on us. I may be free but she's still my container. She dies, I die. I'm looking out for my interests."

Jiraiya was curious about these threats and interests. "And what threats are you aware of?"

"Uchiha's," the redhead spat in disgust, "Can never be trusted. Out there roams one with the power to destroy everything. He's gotten away once, it won't happen again."

"The masked Uchiha?" Kyo had said as much during his introduction. "Who is he?"

Kyo looked annoyed at the questions. This man was supposed to run the intelligence networks? What other Uchiha would the Kyuubi want to kill?

"Her safety is my number one priority, then revenge." That was all he had to say on the matter. The rest could be figured out if the man thought hard enough.

Seeing the conversation close, Jiraiya tried one final approach. "Sarutobi said the seal changed from the original design. I want to look at it to make sure it's not going to kill her." It wasn't that subtle but Jiraiya wanted it known that he didn't trust the demon not to betray them.

"Go ahead. It does exactly what I told that old ape it does. And before you try reversing it, you can't without sealing away her chakra."

The room was tense as he made his way inside. Kyo lifted up Hikari's shirt and called forth his chakra. Both watched as the intricate seal appeared on her abdomen. The design was off, he could tell that right away. This alteration was meant to be unstable, he'd guess if the seal ever broke, it would look something like this. But it was different, like someone had taken care to put in safety measures to prevent it from breaking completely. He couldn't see Kyo doing that so who did?

"Who altered the seal? There's binds around the side, seals preventing complete release but allowing a large portion to exist outside the cage. This was done with care, something only a seal master could accomplish." He could see that Kyo knew the answer but wasn't forthcoming with the information. Just another thing to add to his growing list. "It doesn't appear to harm her but if I'm reading these seals on the outside right, this corporeal body will disappear the moment Hikari is close to dying, redistributing your chakra to her body to heal it."

"It's only a temporary situation. Once she has enough chakra, she can create this body again."

It was an interesting situation, something Jiraiya could honestly say he had never come across.

"All of this, befriending her, becoming essential to her, it's so she'll free you if that ever happens?"

"Does it bother you that you might be wrong about me? That a demon might be good? I don't have to have an ulterior motive for doing all this." At this Kyo leaned forward, encasing the older man's hand that was over Hikari in a binding grip. "If I wanted to, I could've turned her against everyone the second she lost her precious Uchiha. I could've killed everyone here and taken her away." His voice was low and threatening as his eyes held the promise of his words.

'Is that a threat?' Jiraiya wasn't sure what to think of Kyo anymore. There were too many contradictions. But he did know one thing: he wasn't lying with his last statement. From what he'd heard, his death had greatly impacted Hikari.

"Then let's call a truce. We both want her safe; it'll be easier if we're working together." The resulting grin made Jiraiya feel like he was played somehow.

"If you're as good as your reputation says you are, you won't be a bad ally."

Over the unconscious Uzumaki, a deal was struck between two legends that would end up defining the upcoming years.

···

With their first mission together not going quite as planned and needing answers to his questions, Jiraiya decided to keep the kids in the village for the time being. Ideally, he wanted to be out of the village, working with his spy network but that would have to wait for the time being.

His first stop after talking with Kyo was the Hokage's office. Sarutobi had omitted much information regarding his new student.

"Smoking this early Old Man? Maybe we should bring out the hard stuff for this conversation?"

The Sandaime sighed as he turned to his student. The day hadn't even started yet and he could already feel a headache coming on. Those two would be the death of him it seemed.

"Does this have anything to do with the explosion heard outside the village around 03:45?" He could always tell when something involved his troublemaking student.

Jiraiya rubbed his head sheepishly; so that explosion hadn't been a good idea on multiple levels. "Yeah, you could say that." Jumping in from the window, he took a seat across from the Hokage's desk. "What were your thoughts when you saw Hikari's seal? What did you feel when it changed?"

Her seal? That wasn't what he thought they would be talking about. It had been years since the change and there had yet to be an incident. "From what I could gather, the seal does exactly as Kyo says. I cannot find anything that would put her life in danger."

"And what did you feel when it changed?" This was the important part. He had to know if there had been any transformation or tampering beforehand. The seal shouldn't have been able to change by itself and Hikari didn't have the tools to do so. If someone tampered with it or if it was a failsafe built in by Minato in case the seal failed, he had to know.

"No one knows how it happened. Kakashi was out on a mission at the time and Hikari just appeared one day with Kyo. We were never able to get the story out of her." His eyes lost focus as he remembered that day. It wasn't a day he could forget, discovering the Kyuubi once again walked among them. "I sent out trackers and the only thing found was a destroyed field four kilometers out. It was saturated with demon chakra but other than the destruction, any evidence there was destroyed."

"What was she doing that far from the village by herself?"

Sarutobi gave him a look, raising his eyebrow, "Training." That was all he needed to say to explain the situation.

Jiraiya sat back as he took in the new information. The chakra had been released but had the seal been close to breaking? Demon chakra could do much destruction in small amounts so without seeing the area itself, it was hard to judge just how much had been released and there was always the lingering doubt that the two weren't telling the truth.

"And there was no sign of an enemy ninja? You never did find out who was behind the assassination attempt before?"

"No, we didn't. The only inconsistency we've been able to uncover is the disappearance of a chūnin around the same time. He has yet to be found."

This peaked Jiraiya's interest. He had learned that there were no such things as inconsistencies when Jinchuuriki were involved. "I'll need this chūnin's records."

Indicating that he would be given it later, Sarutobi moved on to his original question. "Now, can I know why I received no less than ten complaints about an explosion near the East Gate?"

Jiraiya shrugged, standing up from his seat and moving to the picture frames of the previous Hokages on the opposite wall.

"It was a mishap in the team's training exercise. I miscalculated and placed explosive tags next to a kunai barrage. The kunai set off the explosion. The brats are alright, Maeko had a ruptured eardrum and a mild concussion. The docs are taking care of him now. Hikari seemed okay; Kyo took her home to rest."

"Honestly Jiraiya, when will you learn?" A sigh of defeat escaped the old man.

The disappointment wasn't anything new for the white-haired man. It had been a common occurrence throughout his ninja career, especially when he was compared to Orochimaru. He had learned long ago to not let it affect him.

Not looking at Sarutobi, Jiraiya stopped in front of the last picture, the one that still brought him deep pain. And more questions than answers.

"Kyo…what do you make of him? I thought I had his personality figured out from what you'd told me about him but something came up today that made me question that."

Jiraiya hated not having all the information. His was a spy, the top spy, his life revolved around information. To not have such vital information regarding his goddaughter was really rattling his nerves.

"I've only interacted with him on occasion. My relationship with Hikari has deteriorated these last few years. She never forgave me for removing her from the compound. Discovering the truth about the Kyuubi didn't help matters. Kakashi knows more about the two than anyone.

Sarutobi sighed as he relit his pipe, breathing in a lung full of nicotine.

It was a sensitive topic, one he hadn't shared completely with his former student. He didn't think he could bare for his student to discover his moment of weakness, where he damned the last remnant of Minato and Kushina. There was much he did wrong by her and he has struggled to make it up to her since. He knew that she had every right to hate him but he couldn't accept that this was it. He couldn't accept that he had failed her. Breaking the age limit rule for graduation and giving her Jiraiya as her sensei, he hoped that maybe she would see he only ever did what he thought was best for her.

"He never told her?" That was enough to make him turn around. Both her guardians had known her secret yet both had elected not to tell her. That would not have been his first course of action.

"No, he wanted her to have a normal childhood."

Well, he had liked the kid when he met him. "From the outside, it looks like Kyo is in control of the relationship but I witnessed him defer to her. He hides it under insults and anger but I think he has grown to care for her in ways he refuses to admit." His rough fingers rubbed his chin in contemplation.

"There have been instances where he partakes in her pranks. I imagine he indulged her wishes as a way to get back at the village in some way. The most recent being the defacing of the Hokage Monument." Sarutobi gestured out his window towards the stone carvings. Still visible on his bust were the paint and insults. It seemed they had especially focused on him and Hashirama, as those two were the only ones with paint still present.

"But his actions don't add up. The only consistency I've observed is his willingness to protect Hikari and his desire to kill an Uchiha." Jiraiya relented, dropping back into his seat, gaze moving past Sarutobi and focusing on the rising sun peaking over the Hokage Monument.

"An Uchiha? Itachi?" That would make sense, seeing as Itachi poses the biggest threat with his Sharingan.

"From his speech, no. There must be some other Uchiha out there more powerful than that."

That didn't make sense. Itachi had killed all the Uchiha's. He and Sasuke were the only ones remaining. If there was another one out there, more powerful than Itachi, they would've heard of him by now. Someone with that much power didn't stay hidden for long.

"He knows things, things we don't."

And that was the source of their complications. Kyo was holding back the information they desperately needed, ensuring he always had the upper hand.

Thinking hard on this new information, Sarutobi concluded they didn't have enough information to act. For now, they would watch. "Don't do anything for now. Talk to Kakashi and see what he has to say. Keep them in the village in the meantime."

···

Updated: 03/11/18