DISCLAIMER:
As we all know, none of the characters, places, or occurrences of Naruto contained here in are mine. They are Kishimoto Masashi's, and his alone. He created them, and I did not. All other characters and occurrences were created by me, except for Takimei, whom was created by my best friend Bridget, and whom also gave me permission to use in this story. Want proof? Just ask her.
INTRODUCTION:
Now that that is out of the way, I will now carry on with the introduction. I will mostly be using the structure of the anime more than the manga, because more things happen in the anime than the manga. Sometimes I will use them interchangeably. This is my first Naruto Fanfiction, so please bear with me, but for the most part, I hope you will enjoy my humble little fanfiction.
PREFACE:
Hot flames flickered across a baby's nursery, licking up the glowing walls. The raging fire devoured all the furnishings, destroying everything within its scorching reach. The young babe wailed out for its father, but he would never answer. The fire had already consumed him. The sacrifice was given up. There was no hope left for the babe. It would soon meet the same fate as its father; to return to ash in a fiery death with a coffin of debris, caused by the cursed Nine-tailed Demon Fox.
As the fire raged on and the house was collapsing in some places; by some miracle it seemed, the flames never harmed the babe, nor was a single piece of wood on the crib burnt. The flames swirled around the child, making its eyes glow a fervent red-orange. The element of fire was entering the child, for the fire found that the child was the correct specimen that olden lore had chosen to be possessed. From that moment on, the child would carry the element of fire—a brand of strength and weakness—being both a blessing and a curse that it would bare for the rest of its life. Now it was a Child of Fire—branded for life by the flames that danced around its crib. The plan was now complete.
Later on the next day, a young man by the name Hakate Kakashi happened to pass by the burned remains of a house. Strangely overcome by curiosity for a Shinobi, he turned from his original course (which was on his way home from helping with the cleanup from the Demon Fox attack) to investigate the sight of the apparent fire. Upon stepping onto the lawn, there was this ear-piercing screech. Kakashi was taken aback at first, but then recognized that it was the hungry cry of a baby. 'What is a baby doing here…?' he thought to himself as the wailing continued, but then he remembered: the people who had lived there—the Akashiros—and they had a baby. Yes, now that he thought of it, this was where Deante had lived.
Kakashi and Deante had been very, very close friends even though she was considerably younger than he. They had spent many afternoons together and she had changed Kakashi little by little. She was the main reason he left the Ninja Assassination Corps. The love she projected from her heart of gold would have left anyone changed. It was because of that heart and love that everyone wondered why she married Toramaru Akashiro; a very shady man of whom no one knew much about. It was half expected that the man would change because of his vow to Deante, and he eventually did—or at least it seemed that way.
Around the village, Deante was thought to be filled of magic; a fairy some would call her. Somehow everything sprung to life when she walked by, the birds and animals followed her everywhere she went, and the moments one spent with her were filled with joy and laughter. Sorrows and troubles were always forgotten and life always seemed brighter than before. Everyone loved her, and she loved everyone, but the strongest bond was between herself and Kakashi.
So why, you ask, did he not recognize the home in which his closest friend lived? Two reasons: One, the fire had turned the identical house to every one around it to ash, and two, he had rarely ever visited that house.
Before she married Toramaru, Deante lived by a stream that had sparkling waters and colorful foliage. Kakashi had always been the visitor, partly because that's the only way that Deante would have it, and the other part because Kakashi would often show up uninvited. To these unexpected visits, Deante would cry out with such excitement the world around her would perk up to listen to the beautiful sound. She was a fairy—in Kakashi's eyes.
In the months of their friendship Kakashi had fallen in love with the elvish creature named Deante. He had known her more than anyone else—truly known her and she had truly known him. Word around the village was the two of them were going to get married; everyone knew it was inevitable. The way both of them looked at each other, the way they spent every waking hour together—it was for sure. He even had Deante's Great-grandmother's blessing to take her hand in marriage. That's when Toramaru showed up completely out of the blue. A week later, Toramaru and Deante were married. Kakashi felt a tear as he was remembering that sad day. Shaking it off, he remembered that the child was rumored to be cursed, but Kakashi was never one to listen to what others said.
Kakashi dug through the rubble and quickly found the babe—completely unharmed. He eyed it with curiosity. 'Not even a scratch…' As he further inspected the baby, he found it was a girl. As he looked into her eyes, he was captivated by her and fell under her spell. There was some power that orbited her—he could not explain. Just like her mother, Deante. Immediately he fell in love with her, like a father does his children when he holds them for the first time. Maybe she was cursed, maybe she wasn't, but the sure thing was, no one would ever forget the rumors. She would grow up to be teased and shunned for the rest of her days, but Kakashi knew from the beginning that her destiny was much more than being ridiculed. It was not mere chance that he had taken the long walk home, and it was not mere chance that this girl had survived. Fate had brought them together to fulfill some sort of unknown destiny. So that is why he made the decision to take her in as his own. Raise her himself.
"Terasuji," he named her. "Fire Destiny."
As the words fell from his lips, the child giggled with glee. Though Kakashi would have been thrilled if the baby was a boy, there was something about the thought of having this little girl growing up in his home, running, and bouncing, and laughter filling his quiet walls that made him smile ear to ear.
Though Kakashi would not have been first choice to care for even a pet, nonetheless a child all by his lonesome, somehow it all worked out. He had bargained, anyways, that if Fate had brought them together, Fate would keep them going. Then again, Terasuji was very wise from the beginning, often times more wise than the elders around her, even at a young age. She had mastered Kanji, most Katakana, and some of Hiragana by age five. Kakashi first just brushed it off as mere genius, but as Terasuji communed with her peers, Kakashi knew she was much more different than just a sharp mind.
As Terasuji grew older, Kakashi realized more and more that there was something very different about her. From a young age, she had a fascination with fire and flames. She loved it, and Kakashi would often times find her sticking her hands in a fire or playing with matches and tinderboxes. Though, never once did she get burnt or cry from the pain of the heat. That's when he understood why Terasuji had survived the fire, and instantly he pulled her out of the Ninja Academy. At home, he taught her the way of the ninja and also her academics. Terasuji loved fighting so much at a very young age (a little before she turned three years old) that she decided—much to Kakashi's delight—to become a ninja. "I'm going to be the first woman Hokage to ever!" she would declare. And it seemed that her goal would one day become reality. At age five she became a Genin,six a Chunin, and by special allowance by the Hokage himself, was made a Jonin on her seventh birthday. Also she had befriended the old Hokage, often times calling him 'Grandfather.' He had no objection to it, for he pitied the orphaned child and the fact that she may never meet her actual grandfather. Thus, she was on his options list for the next Hokage.
Terasuji was a very loving loyal young girl, and was practically glued to Kakashi—she never left his side (unless on order by a mission). Through her early years, she was attached to the hip with Kakashi—inseparable. She loved him more than any daughter would her father and listened intently to every single word that came from him mouth—flippant, sage, or otherwise. She when she entered adolescents, she was still very devoted to Kakashi, never once rebelling as it is teen vogue. Then again, she didn't know anything else. Kakashi was there in the morning, he was there at night. He was there when she happy, he was there when she was sad. He was there when she felt like she could conquer the world, and he was there when she felt it had crushed her. He was even there when she had her coming of age. And she wouldn't have had it any other way. She loved Kakashi more than life itself, and would have gladly given herself up for him.
As Terasuji's knowledge of the world around her grew, so did her physical body. At age thirteen—which is where our story will begin—she could have been (and was sometimes) mistaken for a sixteen or seventeen year old.
Terasuji never had that many friends from the beginning. Sure she was likable, and many people often flocked around her, but the frequent missions that she was sent on, and her loving devotion to training, left almost no time for herself. (Terasuji was used on even A ranked missions because of her age and stature. Not many men would have suspected anything from a little girl) But also, Terasuji was busy taking care of Kakashi and her many animals. She simply did not want friends, so much, because often they (as in all peoples of Konoha) made her feel very, very different. She loved them all, the whole village, she just didn't always spent the bulk of her time with them. Instead, she watched them all from the sidelines. Praised them in their victories, and mourned with them in sadness. And this was their relationship, Terasuji loved and devoted herself to the village—its safety and its people—and they did nothing in return. There were only a few that truly loved her. (Iruka, the Hokage Sarutobi, and Kakashi) Terasuji did not care. All of Konoha was her family, and just because they didn't always treat her kindly (and the fact that they treated her more like a monster) didn't change that fact. She'd always love them—and protect them…no matter what.