Sasuke Uchiha was cold and distant around other people. They all treated him like a hero, and for what? He never did a single heroic thing in his life. No, not because he helped them or saved them...or anything really. Just because he was alive. Just because he had survived the Uchiha massacre - a happening that still haunts his every dream and thought. Sasuke was an avenger. And as such he didn't 'make friends', they were a waste of time. So was running from all his fangirls. He would rather spend his time training in order to reach his goal. That single goal that he had set for himself ever since he was seven. Killing his brother...
"Sasuke-kuuun!" a chorus of high-pitched, obviously female, voices chorused. Sasuke inwardly cringed but kept his face blank. He was an Uchiha, after all. He had to keep his up his reputation. "Sasuke-kuuun!" It was time to run! Definitely run!
Tsukiko Akai sat on her bed and opened a large scroll. 'This jutsu...only reversible every four years. No going back after this.' She read over the instructions, tracing her finger over the characters. She undressed until she was wearing only a white tunic and her boxer shorts, then she started on the handseals. 'Who makes a jutsu with five hundred handseals?!' she thought angrily. Her fingernails started glowing light blue. She continued the handseals and glowing blue streaks of light covered her arms in tribal markings that resembled blue diamonds. The light moved to cover her upper arms, then her shoulders. Some of the diamonds moved upward to cover her neck and face while the rest moved downwards to cover the rest of her body. Soon her whole body was a mas of blue light that started to shrink. The light soon faded, leaving her back in her normal form. She quickly ran to the full-length mirror in the bathroom to check if the jutsu was indeed complete. Once she saw her reflection she gasped. She looked like her twelve-year old self again. She punched a fist into the air. "It worked!" she cried happily. "Now, step two!" she made her way back to her room and took out another scroll. She once again read all the instructions carefully before doing the handseals. Blood poured from her body, moving to cover every single hair on her body from root to tip. Very soon the hair on her head was a mas of dried blood, along with her eyebrows and eyelashes. 'Shower time.' she thought to herself and made her way over to the shower. She quickly undressed and hopped into the shower, a hand instantly reaching for the shampoo. She put some of the greenish-white shampoo on her head and started to massage her hair, hoping the blood would come off. Honestly, she was going to miss her blonde hair but she needed to make sacrifices in order to assure the success of Itachi's plan. 'This jutsu is SUCH a pain in the ass!' she thought as she still tried to get the blood to loosen up so she could wash it off.
After about three hours of washing off all the dried blood in cold water, Tsukiko was finally able to get dressed in her old clothes from the last time she was eleven. She went to look at herself in the mirror once more. Her hair, instead of its normal blonde color, was now a dark purple that contrasted her skin. Her eyes, still the same blue as always, were the only thing about herself that she still recognized. 'I look so weird...nothing like myself, to be honest.' She took out a container with contacts in and placed one in each eye. Her eyes started to water slightly, but she blinked them until they stopped burning. She quickly slipped on her shinobi sandals and got ready to head out. 'One last thing...' she thought and reached her hands around to the back of her neck to unclasp her necklace. She removed the necklace from her neck and held it in her hand. This necklace held so many memories...
She shook her head to snap herself out of her thoughts. There was no time to think about such a pointless thing. She put the necklace in a small red box before putting the box in one of the desk drawer. 'I won't be seeing it for a while... I don't really want to put it away...' She looked sadly at the box before closing the drawer. She needed to let go of this right now, doing it later would only make it harder. She grabbed the backpack she had packed earlier that morning, which contained a few outfits that would fit her current size and a few other necessities, before heading out the door and locking it. 'If all goes well, I won't be coming back here in a very long time...still, fingers crossed and hope for the best.' She walked down the empty hall, backpack slung over her shoulders. Once she exited the building she immediately went left, in the direction of the tallest building in Konoha - the Hokage Tower.
"Hokage-sama..." Tsukiko said as she entered the office, letting the door close with a slight creak. The old man looked up from his papers, silently thanking the newcomer for distracting him from the tedious paperwork. The Hokage looked at the girl, she wasn't someone that he recognized. "Yes? Do I know you?" he asked kindly. Tsukiko smiled slightly. "You know me very well...Sarutobi-sensei..." she said softly. Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes widened. "Tsukiko? Is that you?" Hiruzen asked carefully, receiving a nod from the girl. "Did you..." "Yes, I did, Sarutobi-sensei. I used my...my clan's...jutsu." Tsukiko said softly, eyes looking not at the old man's eyes, but instead at his nose. "Tsukiko...why did you do that? Why are you-... It's because of him?" Tsukiko nodded her head mutely. "I understand that you feel anger and confusion, but Tsukiko, this isn't necessary. The boy can look after himself - he even got the best grades. I'm sure you're worried, but there is really no need." Hiruzen said, looking at the girl. He could see the determination behind those dark red eyes, and he instantly knew - he wouldn't be able to change her mind. "Sensei... You took me in as you student, as a resident of Konoha when...they...were still after me. You trained me harshly, but is was all worth it... I really have no right to ask anymore favors...but I am. I want to go back to the academy, so I can remain close to the boy, Sasuke. I... I just need to." she said, this time looking directly into the eyes of her old sensei. "I can't. I can't have an already registered ninja, an ANBU no less, go back to the academy. I can't allow Tsukiko Akai to re-enter the academy..." the Third Hokage said with a smile. Tsukiko was confused for a few seconds, before she comprehended exactly what Hiruzen had just told her. A look of happiness spread over her face. "Then could you send Yami Hoshiko to the academy?" she asked excitedly. "Only once she becomes a registered citizen of Konoha, and of coarse I would need to know where she comes from." Hiruzen told her, already taking registration papers from the bottom drawer of the desk. It was a smart move to keep them in the office in stead of having to ask Mao to bring them up every time. "She comes from a small village on the outskirts of fire country. She came here to learn the ninja arts so she could protect her family and herself, since there were many bandits in and around the village, and the village didn't teach ninja arts or have an academy." Tsukiko, or rather Yami, said. Hiruzen wrote everything down and filled in the forms where necessary. "How will we explain the disappearance of Tsukiko Akai?" he askes her calmly, eyes never leaving the paper. "She is on a solo reconnaissance mission? A very classified reconnaissance mission behind enemy lines that will take much more than a few years to complete." Yami offered and Hiruzen simply nodded. He never did quite understand how she could think up excuses so quickly and tell lies so easily. She was good at manipulating people, that much he knew for sure, after all, he had trained her himself. "Very well, the registration forms are all done. You start at the academy tomorrow, you are in Sasuke's class, and I will be giving you a new apartment, as I assume you knew I would." he told her, causing a smile to spread on her face. "One week from now, Tsukiko Akai will leave the village on a long, solo mission. But, I have one more question. When Tsukiko comes back, what becomes of Yami?" Yami stared at the man. "She will disappear and be classified as a missing nin. An unknown source will report having seen her near lightning country." Yami recited with ease. "And if Yami decides that she is here to stay?" Hiruzen asks. "...the chances of that are very happening are very low...but should it happen that Yami becomes the permanent one, then Tsukiko will die on the way home from the mission. Her body was returned to the village by an unknown ninja and it was swiftly disposed of." she once again answered easily with a smile still coloring her face. Hiruzen returned the smile with one of his own as he handed her the keys to her new apartment.
"...Welcome to Konoha, Yami."
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, Orochimaru would do a hula dance in a grass skirt at the end of every episode. But he doesn't, so I don't...-sigh-
Chapter 2! I really like this story, its going to be fun to write! So, as with all my stories, I have a small request. Its my B-day today and I would really appreciate a review or two! Please leave a review to let me know what you think!
