Hiden stared somewhat unamused as the girl brought recently to the hideout moved about the kitchen. Itachi had come to him earlier with some nonsense about her being a valuable asset to them. He'd said that she specifically had unpractical talents that sooner or later they would all see. In fact, that afternoon he'd agreed to train the girl. He wasn't happy about it but since Itachi refused to tell him where her talents laid he wanted to know. She flitted into the kitchen, her silver hair frayed about her shoulders, and traveled over to the fruit bowl. Honestly, that had been the only thing he'd seen her eat the entire time she'd started coming out of the Uchiha's room. Her fingers picked delicately over the different sized fruits before pausing over a vibrantly yellow apple. It was like watching a beaten animal being presented with a piece of meat. She had come a long way as far as eating food went since they'd brought her here but he could still see the hesitation in her eyes. She took a slow breath before rubbing the skin off on her black tank top and glancing around the kitchen. Akari always checked to see if anyone was nearby before entering or leaving the kitchen. She always looked like she was afraid she'd get caught; as if having clean fresh food was a crime.
"You do know that you're allowed to eat?" he asked tilting his head to the side smirking as she tried to slink from the kitchen and around the hallway corner. She stopped making a face that was a cross between fear and annoyance.
"Yes. I know I can eat." Her sarcastic snappy tone was obnoxious.
"Then stop muddling around the place like a whipped dog." His eyes met her's and there was a suddent intensity behind those pupils that made him pause.
"I am no one's dog." She spat with venom. Hiden put his hands up in a calming gesture.
"No offense meant there kiddo." Her shoulders relaxed a fraction. "So, what do you say to training later?" he'd actually yet to ask her as Itachi had instructed.
"What?" Akari coughed on a small chunk of apple. "I mean…I er…guess so." Earlier Kisame had given her a lecture about getting to know more of the members. Some crap about being part of an organization meant knowing your comrades. She really doubted that because she'd grown up with the ROOT and they had never taken the time to get to know her.
"Good. Noon then. That's an hour from now. Go ahead and get ready." He shrugged and went back to reading the paper in his hands.
Later that afternoon Kisame, Itachi, Zetsu, and Kakazu had gathered outside to watch the sparring match between the girl and Hiden. Itachi was tersely agitated as he stood with his arms crossed over his chest staring over the training grounds. He idly reminded Kisame of a hovering parent. The boy was worried and trying not to show it instead letting it filter off as anger. He chuckled eyeing his partner and just shook his head. Hiden was in the process of dragging his giant scythe over his shoulder making his way towards the dirt patch where the match would officially begin. Akari looked nervous but was standing her ground. Her movements were fluid as she stretched her arms and cracked her neck. She'd strangled her hair back into a formal bun to avoid it getting in her eyes during this fight. Everything was hitched to this here and now. Itachi had delicately planned this as the introduction to her Sharingan. He knew that Hiden would not hold back during even a sparring match so he was fairly certain that she would have to activate the Sharingan in order to keep the upper hand. He was also assured that once the others saw this they would become enamored. It would doubly gain her some respect. The others gave him a wide berth most days and Akari would need them to understand that she was a force to reckon with. Respect first, that was the hardest part, and then they would create partnerships. This girl would get to know what having people around her truly meant. If everything went as planned she'd have the guys around this place wound around her pinkie.
"Here we go runt." Hiden finally called to her. Akari stopped stretching her right arm and gently let it come back down against her side.
"Ready." She breathed out glancing over at Itachi and Kisame. In her entire life she had never had anyone to stand on the side for her; no one to encourage her. It was still a weird feeling, as Kisame nodded smirking to her and Itachi made eye contact, that someone was supporting her. It made a faint feeling of swelling inside her chest.
"Go!" Pein yelled as he walked outside to join the others. Itachi eyed him suddenly. "What? I wanted to see what you were bragging on her about."
Akari did not normally attack first. It wasn't the way she operated. Her general plan of defense was to egg the opponent into attacking first so that she could begin to assess their skills. Why bother throwing time and energy into an attack strategy only to waste chakra when it wouldn't work. Her left foot shifted back through the dirt only enough of a fraction to allow her to balance her weight for immediate movement. Hiden tapped the sickly curved edge of his scythe to the ground as he grinned. That weapon was going to have to be the first thing to go. Akari knew that she would have to separate him from that thing or she was going to lose her head. He charged her suddenly without any time or manner of thought. He was fast. He raised the scythe over his head and attempted to swing it down in a great wide arc towards her neck. She dodged backwards eyes growing wide at how close his precision was. A fraction of an inch and she'd be mortally wounded at the moment. Cussing she drew a kunai as he swung against connecting metal to metal.
Akari hunkered her shoulders into the block and rammed strength into the connection. She wanted to test how much he could throw her back if she was putting enough effort into it to keep him at bay. Hiden gritted his teeth circling the blade unlocking their stalemate. He narrowed his eyes letting his brow settle over his forehead in confusion. For a tiny little brat she could block well. Not to mention she'd blocked almost the instant he'd attacked which signified vast speed. He clicked his blade from the chain laughing and prepared to swing it again. He was going to drive her back to the tree line, snare her in the roots, and hack a finger off to remind her not to train with him again. Akari watched as he smirked and sucked in a quick breath just before he swung again. Six inches. She had six inches of spare room to maneuver away from him. His radial distance was farther now because he had detached the instrument but she still had speed to gain separation. Quickly she made hand signs to charge her right arm and as the blade cycled forward she caught it with a lightning blade. The energy sparked traveling up the metal weapon and jolted into Hiden's arm. It had enough voltage to it that his skin sizzled where it had seared his palm.
"Holy Hell!" he snapped dropping the scythe instantly. That was her chance. Akari darted forward and thrust her face inches from his own. She pulled her charged arm back and threw it forward with enough force to drive in the wall of a house. Due to Hiden's nature of using a weapon he was not primed for hand to hand combat on a regular basis. The brat had caught him off guard and played his weaknesses like a string. As her fist connected he took a step back absorbing the blow. Hiden grabbed her arm and flipped her twisting her body down into the earth with a hard thud. The air puffed out of her lungs as he reached for the scythe. Akari's back felt like it had literally been severed mid length but she knew she had to move. All of these guys were bigger than her and she forgot how easily the bigger opponent could slam you around if you didn't keep moving. She ground her teeth together hauling herself up as a faint swooshing sound graced the air near her head. Nimbly she flipped backwards but only in time to miss the majority of the hit. His blade connected biting deep into the flesh at her forearm causing a spray of red about the air. Arms crossed in front of her face for protection Akari was shifted back a few feet where she had blocked the cut; her arm was bleeding badly but that wasn't what stopped Hiden.
Staring at him from the crest of the tree line, he now understood what Itachi had meant earlier. This girl was attributed to unnatural talents. This brat was an Uchiha. Akari realized vaguely that if she hadn't activated the Sharingan there would have been no way to dodge the last attack as quickly as she had. However, she was not prepared for what the rest of them would do. Hiden was currently staring at her as if she had formed into a giant dragon with three heads. Past his form Kisame was smirking and Itachi was watching with a calculative glare. It was Pein that caught her eyes though; the man had actually nodded his head in improvement, as if her ocular skills had given him reason to appreciate her fighting. No one had ever looked at her like these guys were staring now. She had always just been a tool…but they weren't thinking about how they could use her…they were actually just seeing her.
"Well that's great. Another sulky depressed teenager with looks that can literally kill." Hiden rolled his eyes letting his weapon rest on the ground. "We're all screwed." She laughed despite herself. A grin had broken out onto her face leaving behind the stress of a girl she was becoming less familiar with. Akari couldn't help it. She wanted this. She'd needed this.
"Actaully, she's not from my clan." Itachi spoke up glancing at Akari.
"Than how…" Pein started rounding on the Sharingan user.
"Hatake, Kakashi." Itachi responded idly. He looked at Akari for some sort of recognition. Her eyes swelled with emotion when he said that name. No, she didn't need actual words to confirm it. He knew she was banned from speaking a word of her origin anyway. He knew instantly that his assumption was correct. This was the daughter of the legendary Copy Ninja.