Prologue: Ikehara Separated

"We have to go," Yukika Ikehara declared in a pleading voice. Her violet eyes were wide and her face was stained with tears. She pushed her long blonde hair out of her face and looked down at the white bundle in her arms. He was her younger son, and her only living child. His hair was brown like his father's and his eyes were purple like his mother's.

Yukika and her husband Shinzo were at their oldest child's grave. She had recently died on a mission. Chikako Ikehara was a chunin of the Hidden Leaf. She had been a strong girl, but she had passed away while fighting. The couple hadn't come over their grief, and Yukika didn't want to lose her son Torakku as well. She wanted to move out of the Leaf, away from the shinobi so her son wouldn't die like his sister he would never remember.

Shinzo looked at his wife with his brown eyes. Plastered on his face was a look of sheer determination. "You want to keep Torakku away from the shinobi?"

"It's for his own good!" Yukika sounded frantic. Tears rolled down her cheeks.

Shinzo sighed. "We can't keep Torakku away for long. Whether we like it or not, he'll someday be a shinobi."

Yukika might as well have gone paranoid. "I'm still leaving this foul place! They took my daughter's life and if we stay they'll take Torakku's life as well!" She screamed. She quivered, but no ne knew if it was from fear or rage. Probably both.

Shinzo breathed deeply as he struggled to contro his temper. "We can't run away, Yukika."

Yukika let her anger spill out of her like water cascading from a bottle. "You know what? If you want to stay here, fine! I'm leaving with Torakku. Don't try to come after me or take Torakku with you I'll move out of the village and go far away from this place. And you aren't fit to be his father. If you were a real father, you'd agree!" SHe hugged her baby son to her body to pacify him; her shouting had awoken the poor boy and he began to sniffle. Yukika turned away from her husband and ran. When she reached the tree she leaped onto a limb and pushed off. She vowed not to leap like that again as long as she lived.


Yukika made her new home in a village south of Konoha. She was remarried to Junichi Shiraki and led Torakku to believe that he was his actual father. She felt awful about lying to Torakku, but she told herself it was for the best.

Shinzo stayed in Konoha and continued being a shinobi. He moved to different house to live on his own.


Chapter 1

A Shinobi Hidden

Sylvi Omaki walked down the streets of Kumogakure and toward the Raikage's office. Her curly silver ponytail swung rhythmically across her back and her artificial leg clicked on the pavement. The clouds covered the sky, as usual. It was the Hidden Cloud Village, for crying out loud. Being sunny every day defeats the whole purpose of being hidden in the clouds.

The Raikage's office was a circular building atop the Kumo Ninja Academy. The Raikage worked in the circular part made of blue glass. It had been through a lot, Sylvi reflected. It had been broken by a water jutsu by Genichi Takaki when he invaded, not to mention the many times A, the Fourth Raikage had burst through the window rather than using the door like he should have (though no one but Mabui was bold enough to tell him that). But the glass was repaired, and it was in one piece now that the obsessed with being normal Darui had taken over as raikage after A retired, so it was good.

Sylvi opened the door to the Raikage's office. It hadn't changed much, Darui wasn't exactly the decorative type. Darui was sitting in the chair, leaning back slightly. His bodyguard C was standing behind him. Sylvi thought back to when she was fifteen, when she, Darui, and C were all bodyguards for the Fourth Raikage. They'd gone with him to the Kage Summit. When Sasuke Uchiha, a formerly rogue ninja, had attacked, Sylvi had been treated to the sight of Sasuke being knocked around. (Sasuke was much better now days).

Sylvi inhaled deeply and held her shoulders back and straightened her back. "You summoned me, Lord Fifth?" She inquired politely. In the old days, she could be rude to Darui, but since he was Raikage, she had to be polite.

"Yes," Darui answered. He lifted a few papers and pulled a few papers stapled together from the stack. "Have a seat. Pull up a chair."

Sylvi spotted a dark blue chair. She dragged it in front of Darui's desk and sat down. She stared expantantly at Darui with her silver eyes.

"I have a mission for you three," Darui began. "Team Kotaro: You, Takamoto, and Rakuen." He referred to Sylvi's teammates: Hikabo Takamoto and Torimaru Rakuen. She was currently married to Hikabo, while Tori had married the Mist kunoichi Sukai. All three were jonin and were still eligible for missions, but they didn't get as many as they used to.

"The Sixth Hokage had informed us Kage about a shinobi who doesn't know he's a shinobi," Darui continued. "He lived South of the Leaf Village with his parents. His parents were shinobi, but for unknown reasons, their son Torakku Shiraki has had no shinobi training." He took a breath before he continued. "The Hokage needed someone to train him. Someone elite. Of course, I'd suggested you and those other two, and he agreed to it."

Sylvi thought it over. She knew every shinobi started at the Academy while they were still young. She never heard of a shinobi who hadn't had training when he was still young. "He doesn't know anything about shinobi?"

"His family left the Leaf when Torakku was a baby." Darui answered.

Apparently Torakku couldn't remember about shinobi. "How old is he?" Sylvi inquired.

"Sixteen years old."

"Sixteen years old?" Sylvi stood up angrily. She hadn't heard of any shinobi at sixteen without training.

"Sylvi sit down!" C ordered. Sylvi was used to not listening to him, so she remained standing.

"Really?" Sylvi inquired. "A sixteen year old without training? That's impossible!"

"At this point, everything thinks nothing is impossible since you defeated Kaguya Otsutsuki with those Leaf people." Darui said cooly.

"We had help," Sylvi said. "This is different. Everyone is trained at a young age, and this sixteen year old hasn't had a single minute of training. That's bullshister."

"Hey, watch you language!" C reprimanded.

"What language?" Sylvi asked angrily. "I said shister." C turned away and muttered something about why Sylvi couldn't have used her own word, "bolshevik"

"Just try it," Darui said calmly. "If you can't pull it off after a week, you can come back and we'll send someone else."

Sylvi looked at Darui with her flashing silver eyes. Darui met them with his calm black ones. Finally Sylvi looked away and scoffed. "Fine whatever. One week."

Darui smiled serenely and leaned back. "I win."