Chapter 1

As a dark green figure flashes across the land of fires border, this young woman of 17 years finds herself excited and a bit fearful of what she is going to do now that she has left her homeland. Speeding threw the tree branches she tries to think of what she is going to do.

I need to get as much distance between this place and me as I can get no matter what. I also need to figure out where I can go where it will be safe as well. A small village maybe. Hmm… This is going to be harder than I thought. I should of thought this out better before I left. Maybe I should stop and figure out this map I have. ...Na, not right now. I need distance. Further away I am, the better. Besides, I am in the woods. Not likely the trees are going to mark where I am on this map. Just keep moving. Just keep moving. she thought.

After a few hours of traveling threw the forest, she found a small clearing and decided to stop.

Ok Reioki. This should be far enough away to rest a bit and figure out what I am going to do. Besides, I am a bit hungry. She thought. She landed in the small clearing where a few green ferns were growing and a beam of sunlight had shown threw the trees. She took off her dark green cloak, and brushed back her long silver bangs away from her face. They clashed with the long black hair she has. She takes out an apple form her backpack she was carrying and sat in the sunlight. As she ate, she took out the map and looked at it.

Hmm…. I wonder where I am. Or where I am headed. This map is not going to do me any good right now. I have never been anywhere out of the village before without my mother. And that was so long ago. What am I doing? I left the only place I have ever known, my father and... Oh yeah... and never being able to do anything, go anywhere all because of the fighting. ...Oooohh, what am I doing? She thought.

As she sat in the sunlight, she crunched her knees into her chest and looked up to the trees with her black eyes with gold specks through them.

"Mother, what am I to do. I do not want to go back, but I am not sure what to do. Not as sure as when I left anyways. Help me mom, please? I wish you could tell me what to do." she said in a soft voice to her self. Reioki looked down into her knees with a few tears in her eyes and then shook her head and said

"No! No tears. I made the decision to leave; now I need to face the consequence. I must move on. I can do this. I know it." She said to herself. She got up, folded and put the map back in her backpack, put it back on her back, put on her cloak and started off again, going in the direction that her gut told her to go.

As the darkness approached, Reioki looked for a place she could make camp.

Well, there does not seem to be a village nearby, so it looks like I am going to have to make due with sleeping somewhere around here. Oh great. I have never done this before. Hmm... Well, let me see... she thought as she landed on the hard ground while she looked for a place to make camp.

Trees, trees and more trees. What to do? I could look for something to make some kind of shelter, but what? The ground is pretty bare. A log, a few large stones and not much else around it. Bushes, but what is in them? Berries. Nice, They are edible too. I like that. Well, I guess, I will have to make due with putting this tarp over the log and pin it to the ground and sleep under that. She thought. She took off her cloak and backpack, pulled out the tarp and put it over the log and pinned it to the ground with some large stones so it looked like a half tent. She also pulled out a box with veggies and rice and ate that for dinner.

I am going to have to find a village sometime tomorrow, or I will run out of food. I only have enough to make it threw till tomorrow. I really was not thinking that I would be wandering this long without running into some kind of village. As soon as daybreak gets here, I will get moving again. She thought again. Reioki crawled under the tarp wrapped up in her cloak and went to sleep.

In the morning when Reioki woke up, she was pretty hungry. She looked at the bush with the berries and decided that would be breakfast. She took the stones off the tarp, folded it up and put it back in her backpack. She went over to the bush and ate berries until she was content. She got up to put on her cloak and heard,

"There she is, get her!" Two shinobi came after her. She recognized them as shinobi of her own village, but they were not on the same side as her family. There was a civil war going on in her land and they were from the opposing side. Reioki started to run, but felt a sharp stabbing pain in her back and leg.

"Aaaaahhhh, get away from me!" She screamed. Reioki stumbled but was able to keep running. One of the shinobi jumped on her and knocked her to the ground.

"Got her." The rain village shinobi said. He had on a mask that covered his mouth that looked like a respirator, a white cloth mask that covered his eyes, and had dark brown spiky hair. Reioki started screaming,

"GET OFF ME! LEAVE ME ALONE! I HAVE DONE NOTHING TO YOU! PLEASE LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"Sorry! No can do! We are going to take you back with us!" Said the shinobi holding her down.

"Hurry up! Lets go! The sooner we get back, the less of a chance of us being caught here!" Said the other rain village shinobi. He had the same mask on his face, and short brown hair.

"Why are you after me? I have done nothing to you." Reioki sobbed. The shinobi with the spiky hair looked at her.

"Because Lord Hanzo gave us a description of a girl, slender with black hair, silver bangs and black colored eyes with gold specks through them. He said that if we find someone that matches that description, to capture and bring her to him for she might help us get the advantage to this war! And you match it perfectly!" he answered as he picked her up from the ground. Reioki tried to break away, but she started to feel woozy.

"See! Told ya it was a good thing to drug the needles. Now she will pass out without a struggle." Said the shinobi with the short brown hair.

"Yeah, I have to give you credit for thinking this time!" the other one said. Reioki pleaded,

"Please, just let me go." Then from the trees above they heard a loud voice.

"Hey! That's no way to treat a lady!" Then, two leaf shinobi came down out of the trees. One with black hair shaped like a bowl haircut and the other with silver spiky hair and mask on his face.

"You heard what she said, so let her go." said the shinobi with the silver spiky hair.

"This is our prisoner. She needs to come back with us." said the shinobi holding Reioki.

"I am not a prisoner, I am a captive. I have done nothing wrong. Please help me!" Reioki pleaded.

"It sounded like you were trying to take advantage of this little lady. It was her screaming that got our attention in the first place. Do you have the papers declaring her arrest? If not, let her go." said the shinobi with the bowl haircut. The shinobi holding Reioki just smirked.

"Ok, fine. Lets see what you got!" He let go of Reioki and came after the shinobi with the bowl haircut. A few hard kicks and punches later, the shinobi that was holding Reioki went down and out cold. The rain village shinobi with the short brown hair went running.

"Thank you for helping Me." said Reioki. The shinobi with the black, bowl shaped hair held out his hand to her.

"Your welcome little lady. So, what is your name, if you don't mind me asking?" he asked. Reioki took his hand as he helped her stand.

"Oh, umm... Rikudo, Reioki. What's yours?" asked Reioki brushing off her blue outfit she was wearing.

"My name is Might, Guy and this is Hatake, Kakashi. Nice to meet you." He said.

"Ahhh, Nice to meet you too. Uh, well... Thanks again for helping me. I guess I will be going now." said Reioki. Guy cocked his head.

"Where are you headed?" he asked. Reioki looked at him with a puzzled look.

"Ummm... well... I thought I would... go visit the sea. I guess." answered Reioki with a small smile.

"You guess? Well little lady, your headed in the wrong direction. Its that way" Guy said pointing to the right.

"Oh, umm... thank you... I would... of... figured..." said Reioki as she passed out and fell to the ground.

"I think she needs medical attention Guy." said Kakashi looking down at her.

"I think your right. Lets go!" Said Guy as he picked up Reioki.

Blurred eyes opened, and Reioki looks around.

Wh...where am I? She wonders. She sat up in the bed she was in and realized she was in a hospital. A little panicked, she pulled the cover off of her and sat on the bed with her legs hanging off the side.

How did I end up here? What happened? As she thought to her self. As she sat on the side of the bed, she remembered what happened in the forest.

"Oh yeah... I remember now." She said quietly to herself. She looked at her self and examined herself with her doujutsu to see if she was all right. She was happy that her doujutsu could help her to see the inner workings of her body. Like and x-ray but also put color to chakra and the network that ran through bodies. She was a great healer too.

Seeing that she was healthy, she got off the bed and walked over to the closet and pulled out her cloths and cloak and got dressed. She grabbed her backpack and started walking towards the door when a nurse walked in the room.

"Oh! You shouldn't be up walking around! Or dressed! You should be in bed!" The nurse exclaimed as she walked over to Reioki.

"I am fine... Really... I am OK." Reioki said. The nurse looked worried.

"Oooh. I don't know. I think you should wait until the medic comes back. Then he can decide if you're fine or not." said the nurse with concern.

"Fine." Reioki said as she set her backpack on the floor and sat on the bed.

"But I am not getting undressed. I will just wait here until he or she gets here." Reioki looked at the nurse with a little smile.

"Ok. I'll go get him now." said the nurse as she walked out the door. Reioki sat on the bed waiting swinging her feet back and forth as she waited for the medic to show. Then there was a knock on the door and a man asked if her could come in.

"You may." She answered. In walked Guy and Kakashi. They walked in the room but stopped soon after they entered the room.

"Hi there! Looks like you recovered fast." said Guy with a big smile on his face.

"Yeah, I have that ability. Just waiting for the medic to come here and release Me." said Reioki with a smile.

"So, can we ask you a few questions?" asked Kakashi.

"Yeah, sure. What do you want to know?" she asked looking at them with concern on her face.

"Well, being out in the in the woods by yourself isn't the safest thing, so was there someone else traveling with you?" asked Kakashi.

"Well, I guess I was not being the smartest person, but I was traveling by myself." Reioki answered.

"Well, where ever you are headed, we could make sure you get there safely. It would make us feel better knowing your safe." Guy replied. Reioki looked at the two guys and then looked down at the ground.

"Well... to be honest, I do not know where I am going. I left my village for personal reasons and did not really think it through before I left." answered Reioki looking down to the floor a bit embarrassed.

"I see. May I ask WHY you left your village?" Kakashi asked with question on his face.

"I hope you will forgive me for being rude, but I really do not feel like answering that right at this time. It is personal." answered Reioki as she looked up at him.

"I see. Well, I can say, I know you are from the Hidden Rain Village. I noticed the headband your attackers were wearing. But I'm guessing that you didn't know the men that were trying to take you back to your village?" asked Kakashi.

"No. I did not. But they did say that they were looking for someone that matched my description." answered Reioki looking back to Kakashi.

"I see. Do you happen to know why they would be looking for someone with your description?" He asked with concern. Reioki glared at him for a few seconds and then looked down to the floor. She gave a sigh and then looked back to them.

"Again, I do not mean to be rude, but I can not say why. I am sorry if I seem vague with some of the answers. I just ...do not know you, but I thank you for the help you gave me and bringing me here." she answered. Kakashi gave a nod with his head but not happy with the answers he got. Guy just smiled.

"That was not a problem and we were happy to do it. It was an honor. Answered Guy. Just then the medic came in.

"Ok, lets see how you are. Gentlemen, could you please wait outside?" said the medic as he started to look over Reioki. Guy and Kakashi walked out the door.

"You were in good hands when they brought you in. They are some of the best Jonin in the village." said the medic as he looked her over.

"Umm... can I ask... ahhh.. what village am I at?" she asked a bit embarrassed. The medic looked at her chart and then looked at her to answer,

"You're in Konoha, and you have seemed to recover nicely. You are free to go." Reioki hopped off the bed and picked up her backpack.

"Thank you." she said.

"Your welcome." the medic replied. Reioki put her backpack on and walked out the door of her hospital room to find Guy and Kakashi waiting for her.

"What are you going to do now? Are you planning to stay here in the village?" asked Guy.

"I have no idea what I am going to do. Like I said, I was not thinking when I left my village. So, I guess I should look for a place to stay if I am welcome to stay here in the village." answered Reioki as she looked up at them.

"Sure, Your welcome to stay here in the village. I'm sure there is a place you can stay down the road too." Guy answered as they walked towards the hospital doors.

"Ummm... thanks. But why are you helping me?" she asked with a puzzled look on her face.

"Because we can." said Kakashi.

"Aaahhh, yeah... right. Listen." Reioki said as she stopped at the doorway out of the hospital.

"I am not sure of where I am or what I am going to do next, but I do not know you two and I am not sure why you are being so nice to me. I am not sure about anything right now. What do you want from me?" Reioki asked looking at them nervously. They both looked at her with care.

"We are just trying to help. That's all. There is nothing more than that. If you don't want our assistance, than just say so. We will leave you alone. Otherwise we are here to help you find what you need. This is a big village and it is easy to get lost if you don't know where you are going. So, it's up to you. Would you like our help or not?" Kakashi replied. Reioki looked down to the ground. She walked out the door and then stopped and looked around. She sighed and took a few more steps, turned around and said,

"Ummm... listen. I am sorry. You are right. I do not know where I am going or where to go. And I could use your help. I am just not use to strangers helping me without something in return. At least where I am from anyway. So, umm... Thank you." She said as she looked at them. Kakashi pointed as he spoke.

"It's this way. And you're welcome." They walked in silence till they got to the place where there was a small room to rent. They talked to the owner and walked her to her room.

"This is where you can stay. It's not far from the center of town. There are places to eat over in that direction and public bath house in that direction." said Kakashi pointing out the window that went out to the small balcony. Reioki looked to where he was pointing with his directions, then she looked at both of them.

"Thank you for your help, and I am sorry for being rude to you earlier about your helping me. I feel bad. I hope you can forgive Me." she pleaded. Guy smiled.

"Don't worry about it. Besides, you seemed a bit nervous, so we thought we would help you. That is just how we are. Anyway, we are going to go. Enjoy your stay here in Konoha. Hope to see you around." Guy said with a wave of his hand as they walked out her door.

"Thank you." Reioki said as they left. She turned around to look at the room she was staying in. It was in the shape of L There was a bed on the wall next to the window that went out to the balcony. The window was more like a door that slid open to the balcony. On the other side of the window, going to the right, there was a desk and next to that was a small dresser to put clothing in. On the next wall were two doors. The first door was a closet and the other door was an entrance to a washroom with no shower or tub. In between the doors were shelves that went all the way to the ceiling. On the next wall was the entrance to the room. Then that wall continued into the L part. In that small part of the room there was a small kitchenette. There was a small fridge, a stove and sink with a small counter in between the fridge and sink also between the sink and stove. There was a blank wall that went out of the L shaped room that lead back into the master room. On that blank wall was a small two-seat table. Over all, her room was small and cozy. She walked over to the sliding door and opened it. She walked out onto the balcony and looked around. It was a nice view of the village. She thought,

I could get planters and get a garden out here. That would be great. That would be a nice start to some place new. Reioki walked back into her room and unpacked her stuff. Not that there was much to unpack. Thoughts were compounding her by this time.

What am I going to do now? I need to find a job, but what? What can I do? How am I going to survive here? She was thinking and started to get frightened.

Calm down. There has got to be something I can do. I can learn anything. She thought, and made her feel better.

The next day, Reioki got up and washed her face and got ready to get something to eat, and to see what she could find for a job. She walked towards the center of the village where Kakashi told her where there were places to get food. She found a place to eat, like he said. She ate and went walking to see the village. She saw a cute teashop and decided to go in and get a cup.

Reioki walked up to the counter to where a man was standing.

"I would like a cup of Jasmine green tea please." she asked the man behind the counter. He was a short elderly man with black hair and green eyes. He took her order and told her to find a place to sit, and he would bring it out to her. She went to sit down at a table that was closest to the door. The man came over to the table and served her the tea and walked back behind the counter. Reioki took a sip and thought

"This is not very good. I could make this tea better." She went to the counter and asked the man who made the tea.

"That would be me." he answered.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked. Reioki looked a bit uncomfortable.

"Well, ...it is weak. Did you seep the herbs for a while?" Reioki asked with concern.

"Well, yeah. I thought I did. I'm sorry. I can make it again if you like." said the man behind the counter. Reioki smiled.

"What other herbs did you use with the Jasmine?" asked Reioki.

"Well, I just used green tea leaves and jasmine leaves. Why? Is there another way to make it?" asked the man. Reioki gave a nod.

"Yeah, I can show you if you like. My name is Rikudo, Reioki. Pleased to meet you." she said with a smile.

"Yamada, Kashu. I am the owner of this teashop. Please to meet you." Said Kashu with a smile. Kashu invited her to walk back to the back room and showed her where the herbs were. With in 5 minutes, Reioki made the tea and he tasted it.

"This is great. You make tea like my grandmother use to make." said Kashu with excitement.

"Thanks. I am really good at making tea. And I could use a job if you need the help." said Reioki.

"I could. When can you start?" asked Kashu. Reioki smiled with excitement.

"How about tomorrow?" asked Reioki.

"Great. Be here at 7am." said Kashu happily.

"Thanks. I will be here." she said as she took her cup of tea and sat down at her table. She was feeling very good and had a smile on her face.

Reioki drank her tea and left. She decided to wander the village to see what else was around.

Reioki looked at all the stores that she passed by. She also noticed all the people walking around.

What a peaceful place this is. She thought to herself as she walked around. She couldn't help but feel so happy and safe being here. As she walked around, she noticed a section of the village that didn't look inhabited. She walked towards this part of the village with curiosity. A woman walking by noticed her looking at the area.

"Your not from around here are you?" she asked Reioki.

"No mam. I am not. What is this place?" She asked the woman. The woman looked at her with sadness in her eyes.

"This is the Uchiha part of the village. They were all killed by one of their own four years ago. It was a real tragedy. Only one Uchiha survived the massacre. They say it was his older brother that did the killing. It was a really sad thing. No one knows why he would do such a thing. He was only 13." said the woman. Reioki looked horrified at the woman. She couldn't believe what she just heard.

"I'm sorry! Maybe I shouldn't have told you that!" said the woman as she looked at how horrified Reioki looked.

"No, no, no... I am fine... Just shocked that something so horrible could happen in such a peaceful place such as this." answered Reioki looking shocked at the woman.

"Like I said...It was a tragedy. We all couldn't believe it ourselves." said the woman.

"I see... Well, I am going to go. Thank you for the information. You were so kind to tell me that." said Reioki as she walked away a bit disoriented. Thought fragments were running threw her head. "Uchiha... Only one survived... Massacre... The older brother was the one that did the killing..." all these thoughts were running through and haunting her mind as she was walking back to her room. She felt sick to her stomach. As she got to her room, she fell on her bed and looked up to the ceiling. She wrapped her arms around her stomach not feeling very well.

Was what she told me the truth? Maybe there are other Uchiha in other villages? She could not have been talking about Itachi. He is the only Uchiha I know. Maybe he was the brother that survived. That must be it. There is no way Itachi would do such a thing... Oh my... That cannot be right. Four years ago... 13 years old... That would make him... Oh my... Itachi's age. This cannot be true! No... It has to be another Uchiha. It could not be him. Could it? Reioki thought as she lied on her bed. She had a bad feeling about this. She didn't want to believe what she heard.

How do I find out what happened with out letting people know why I am asking. I am sure no one wants to talk about such a thing, but then again... that lady did...She talked about it. But if it is true, I cannot let people know that Itachi was my boyfriend. Everyone would hate me. They would not understand. That is not Itachi. That is not the man I knew and love. THAT IS NOT HIM! How the hell did I end up here! This is not right! This is a really bad dream! Reioki thought and started to cry. Reioki rolled over and cried into her pillow. She started to remember a few years ago when this 15 year old, dark haired shinobi walked into her life.

"Reioki looked at her father and wondered if she was really going to be able to go out into the village today. She looked at her dad with big black and gold speckled eyes,

"Dad, am I really going to be able to go out today? Will I really be able to go to the book shop and get a book by myself?" a 15 year old Reioki asked her father.

"Reioki. I have someone that will be with you, so you won't be by yourself. He will be a guard so you can go out and do stuff, but you won't be able to do this everyday. I want you to understand this." said her father. "

Ok! That will be fine! Thank you daddy!" she answered excitedly as she hugged her father. They walked towards a room where a young man stood waiting. He was a bit taller than her with long black hair tied back in a ponytail. He was wearing a dark shirt with chain mail in the front along the collar and the normal ninja pants and looked the same age as her.

"Reioki, this is Itachi. Itachi, this is my daughter, Reioki. She is not to leave your sight. AND.. Reioki... You are to listen to him. What he says, goes. He tells you, we are leaving, then you leave with him and come home. He knows what is best in dangerous situations. You are not to argue or you will not be going out again. UNDERSTAND?" said her father sternly. "

Yes father." Reioki answered respectfully. Reioki walked to the door and Itachi followed. He had a very unhappy look on his face like he didn't want to be doing this. Reioki stopped at the door and turned around towards her father.

"Thanks dad." she said with a smile.

"Your welcome." he answered back. Then out the door they went.

Reioki remembered also being at the bookstore and Itachi looking very unhappy standing by the door of the store. She bought the book Fungus and Molds while she was there and then went to the catacombs at the lake where her mother use to take her when she was alive. Reioki sat down under the tree her mother planted that they use to sit under every time they came to the lake as well. She felt a little sad being here with out her mother being there with her. She looked over at Itachi and asked if he wanted to sit by her. He just looked at her with a glare.

"I guess that means no. Sorry to offend you." she told him. He didn't answer. She sat there and read her book for a half hour and then decided to go home. Not that she wanted to, but she felt like that her guard would rather be doing something else than baby-sit her. She got up and walked back home. She didn't see him again until the next week."

Reioki stopped crying and started to smile a little remembering how he didn't like her very much the first time they met. She closed her eyes and went to sleep.