Chapter 1: The truth
I cried out in pain as a kunai embedded itself in my thigh, causing blood to erupt, soaking my leg. Gritting my teeth, I began to crawl, trying to get away from the villagers. My name was Kizan Hitsugia, and I lived in the Village Hidden in the Leaves. I was only 6 years old at this time, yet running for my life had become a regular occurrence. However, on my birthday every year, it was worse.
You see, the day that I was born 6 years ago, a demon had attacked the village, killing hundreds. The name of the demon was the Nine Tailed Hawk. The leader at that time, Minato Namikaze, known throughout the world as the Fourth Hokage, feared for his village, which to him was his family. So he fought the beast, but to no avail. As the end seemed to draw near for both the Hokage and the village, he did the only thing he could, the one thing that nobody had ever been able to do. The Fourth sealed the Nine Tailed Hawk in the body of a newborn, so young that it had just had its umbilical cord cut. What made the decision even harder for him though, was that the child was his own. After the sealing was complete, the Fourth died from using up all of his chakra, while his wife, had died shortly after childbirth.
As word got round that the demon had been 'killed' by the Fourth, the previous Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, also known as the Third, discovered the body of Minato lying next to a small boy with black hair, brown eyes and a powerful seal present on his back, just between the shoulder blades.
"Oh Minato my friend, what have you done?" the Third whispered to himself, tears threatening to overflow from his eyes.
Wiping the tears away, Sarutobi picked up the young boy and laughed softly, as the child had the biggest grin on his face.
On the day of my birth, my home was attacked, my mother died at childbirth, my father died from sealing a beast away, and I ended up as the jinchuriki of the Nine Tailed Hawk. My father had intended for me to be seen as a hero for sacrificing myself in order to protect the village but, because of a drunken shinobi who let slip that I had the Hawk sealed within me, despite the Third making a law about talking about what I had inside, on penalty of death, the villagers resented me. In their eyes, I was the Hawk. They never knew who my parents, as Sarutobi had only told my father's single surviving student of my lineage.
Because of that single shinobi, I was forced to run for my life every day, but on my birthday, I had to do a lot more. This year, a large mob had been formed, made of mostly civilians, but there were also several chunin in there, as well as a couple of jounin! I struggled to drag myself across the ground, ripping the kunai out of my leg, leaving a trail of blood that even a blind man could follow. As I dragged myself home, trying to escape, the mob caught up with me. Within seconds, I found myself being impaled by kunai, Nin-to, spears, pitch forks and other sharp objects. However, for some reason I healed really quickly. I knew for a fact that most, if not all of my wounds would have healed and disappeared this time tomorrow. While I was extremely happy about this, I still had to go through the pain of each attack.
As I was being attacked, I closed my eyes and curled up into a ball, trying to protect myself. However, when I opened my eyes, I found myself standing in what looked like the middle of a sewer, staring at a huge cage with a seal on it. I went to take a step back, but froze when a large yellow eye opened and focused on me.
"So, my master has finally come to visit me. Oh, how….terribly disappointing," a calm voice said, before something began to move inside the cage.
I watched in shock and fear as a huge hawk appeared out of the darkness, its wings open. I gulped and, trying to step back, fell onto the ground.
The hawk seemed to sigh, its wings folding in. "So you are my master. Well I must say, I didn't expect you to look so…Pathetic. To be brutally honest, I was expecting you to look more…powerful, perhaps even awe inspiring. But no, you look like that."
The hawk almost looked sad about the way I looked and, before I could stop myself, I said "Who are you? What are you? Where am I? What do you mean by master?"
For about a minute the hawk stared at me, surprise in its eyes and then, it began to laugh, the noise echoing around me.
"Hahaha, oh that's good. That is rich." The hawk continued to laugh, before it caught sight of my face and stopped. "Wait, are you serious? You honestly don't know who I am!?"
I shook my head quickly, not wanting to anger the beast.
The hawk groaned and looked up at the ceiling, a single tear dripping from its eye.
"Do you mean to tell me, that you never knew why those incompetent wastes of space that live around you made your life hell? Never wondered why you were kicked out of every shop you entered? Never wondered why everybody hates you?"
I looked down at the ground. "I did wonder about that, but every time I tried to find out, they all just laughed at me, calling me a demon and blaming for the deaths of people I never even knew!"
I froze suddenly as I thought about something that had happened last year. When I was being attacked on my birthday last year, one of my tormentors was drunk as hell, and as he stabbed me, I heard him muttering in a slur about a 'stupid hawk demon' and 'why didn't the Fourth just kill him?' As I ran through this, something snapped together in my head and I gasped, my face turning pale as I stared up at the hawk.
"You're the Nine Tailed Hawk, aren't you?" I asked softly, slowly standing up.
The Nine Tailed Hawk bowed its head slightly in a gesture of acknowledgment, yet it also seemed to be one of submission.
"Indeed I am young one. I am The Nine Tailed Hawk or, as my father knew me, Benihime. I am the reason for your beatings, the insults; everything that has happened to you is my fault. I truly am sorry for this. Can you forgive me?"
I stood there, my face blank as the revelation of the Hawk's name revealed it to be female, before I started to laugh.
"Hahahaha, I don't blame you. I blame the people in my village. They look at me and they see the demon inside me, not me at all."
I continued to laugh, as tears of anguish and hatred flowed down my face. When the tears finally stopped, I stared at Benihime, who seemed to be thinking about something.
"Child, what is your name?" Benihime asked me, her voice calm yet questioning.
I smiled slightly, before bending at the waist in a bow. "My name is Kizan Hitsugia."
"Kizan, I wish to give you a gift. Please think of it as the beginnings of an apology for what my presence within you has caused. I will give you a bloodline, but not just any bloodline. This bloodline will enable you to communicate with all birds, as well as giving you full mastery of the Wind element. Finally, to go with this bloodline, I will teach you a jutsu. This jutsu will allow you to grow wings at the mention of a single word from you, and it is a onetime use. That means that, you only have to use the jutsu once for the affects to be permanent."
It took me about 2 seconds to make my decision. "I accept your gift, but on one condition."
Benihime looked at me, before smiling. "What is your condition?"
"I would like you to train me in the arts of the shinobi. It has always been my goal to make people acknowledge me, and to become a powerful ninja. With the discovery of you sealed inside me, my resolve is even stronger."
Benihime locked eyes with me and then, a smile in her eyes, agreed to my terms. I thanked her and then, stood perfectly still as feathers fell from the ceiling, covering me completely. When the feathers had completely covered me, they were absorbed into me, until I was back to normal. I smiled and bowed at Benihime, gratitude in my eyes.
"Thank you very much, Benihime for you gift." I said with a smile.
Benihime nodded and then, we started my training.