Cheshire grinned to herself as she jumped through the woods, the weight of the Forbidden Scroll resting on her back like an oversized backpack.

She was well aware the so called 'secret graduation test' was nothing more than some kind of plan Mizuki, one of her former academy teachers, had come up with to steal the Scroll for himself. She had been able to smell his corrupted heart even before she had snapped.

She could honestly not care less, she was bored and it had sounded like fun. Besides, the Hokage was starting to post more AnBu all around the village, thus making it difficult for her to get food.

She needed new places to hunt and fast.

She stopped when she came to the clearing Mizuki 'sensei' had told her to meet him in, sitting on the ground and taking the Scroll off her back, opening it so she could start reading.

After a couple of hours, most of which spent practicing the Kage Bunshin, a technique that created solid clones, her ears twitched under the glamour, catching the sounds of two people coming closer. She pretended to be oblivious, since there was no way an ordinary human, least of all a barely trained academy student, would have been able to hear the near silent ninja approaching her.

"Chizuru, what in blazes do you think you are doing!?"

She inwardly growled at the incorrect name most people called her by, the unfamiliar way her name was pronounced causing them to change it to something they found easier to say. For some reason, the moment she had seen her name sewn into the blanket she had been found in, she had been able to say her name right without any difficulty, like it was natural for her.

Now that she knew who her parents were, she knew why. That didn't make it easier for others to say it though, and she was forced to live with being called 'Chizuru' by the entire village, with few exceptions in the small amount of people who took the time to learn to say it right.

Which basically boiled down to: The Hokage, the father and daughter duo who ran Ichiraku Ramen, the two chuunin who guarded the gate and an odd boy she had met once who was very loud and liked to talk about something called 'The Springtime of Youth' whatever the hell that was.

Anyway, she turned her head to where Iruka-sensei's voice had come from, watching as he came into the clearing.

She put on her idiot mask through the ease of long practice and gave him a blinding smile.

"Hey Iruka-sensei! Don't worry, I learned a technique, so you can just pass me!"

Iruka-sensei frowned, looking at her with a confused face.

"Chizuru, what are you talking about?"

She looked at him with huge eyes displaying her own (fake) confusion.

"That's how it works, right Sensei? If you learn a technique from the scroll you automatically graduate."

Iruka-sensei looked worried now, but didn't get to say anything as they were forced to jump out of the way of a barrage of kunai and shuriken.

The ninja and the Creep looked up, eyes locking onto the shadowed form of Mizuki sitting in the trees, who was giving both of them an evil smile.

"Mizuki?"

Iruka-sensei looked at his kollega in shock, while Cheshire looked at him with the appropriate amount of confusion.

"Oh, don't act so surprised Iruka. Now, give me the scroll Chizuru."

Cheshire watched the corrupt human with an unreadable look.

Iruka-sensei looked panicked.

"Don't do it Chizuru! Mizuki is deceiving you!"

She gave her favorite Sensei a bland look, not that he could see it with his eyes trained on the now revealed traitor.

Did him honestly think she was so Stupid she couldn't figure that out on her own?

Mizuki just started cackling.

"I've been deceiving you? Chizuru, have you ever wondered why the people treat you so terribly? Why they hate you?"

She looked at the traitor again as Iruka-sensei started yelling about something or other being forbidden.

She tuned him out.

Mizuki gave her a nasty grin that reminded her of her own when she was really enjoying herself. Speaking of which, she needed something to eat soon.

Hmm… Maybe that councilman she walked past earlier? He had smelled good, perhaps she should pay him a…

She was brought out of her thinking by the familiar sound of metal piercing flesh and the sweat smell of blood.

The pain now coming from her abdomen helped to.

She gasped, blood coming from her mouth as she registered the giant shuriken now embedded in her stomach.

She could hear Iruka-sensei's gasp and Mizuki's laughter.

"Chizuru!"

She ignored him, simply looking up at the traitor who was now on the floor of the clearing. Seeing him smile cruelly at her, she sighed quietly, before stumbling and beginning to fall.

Iruka started to run to her, to try and catch her, but he didn't get far before he felt a sharp pain in his neck and everything went black.

Sadistic glee and a sense of accomplishment was quickly replaced with confusion and slight worry as the demon fell to the ground after he hit it with the shuriken, just as an identical copy of it snuck up on Iruka and hit a pressure point in his neck, rendering him unconscious in an instant.

The clone smirked at him and pointed to the original before dispelling, leaving him to look at the demon in confusion.

At first nothing happened, but then the demon slowly started to move, rising up from where it had been lying on its side. It's head was bowed as it's hands grabbed the shuriken, slowly pulling the star out of its stomach and letting it fall to the ground.

His eyes were wide as he watched the wound heal right before his eyes, the speed to great for even the Kyuubi.

The demon slowly raised its head, looking at him with bright blue eyes.

Then, it started giggling.

His unease turned to anger.

"What's so funny, demon?!"

It stopped giggling, but the smile on its face didn't disappear.

"Tell me, Mizuki-sensei."

The word sensei was said in a mocking tone, as if the title was nothing more then a cruel nickname given by a bully.

"Do you know what happens when somebody snaps?"

It's grin widened, if that was even possible, before saying in a hoarse whisper that didn't belong on a child:

"They start… To Change."

His blood ran cold and he took a step back as the demon's form shimmered and changed, it's grin stretching to its ears, cat-like features appearing on its body and a white mask covering all of its face except it's disturbing, sharp toothed grin. It's hair turned orange with pink and it's clothes were replaced by a bright yellow, bloodstained hoodie with too long sleeves and what looked like ears on the hood, a brown and slightly tattered skirt, red tights and black shoes covering it's lower half as a knife holster clung to it's calf.

His eyes widened in fear as he recognised the monster in front of him from the many briefings he and every other ninja in the village had attended.

The Heartstealer. A murderer who had been plaguing Konohagakure for almost three years and showed no signs of stopping.

And she was right in front of him.

He tried to scream, to run, to do anything to get away from the monster in front of him, but he couldn't move. All he could do was stare at the murderer's insane grin in silent horror.

She stared back at him, the broken porcelain mask hiding her eyes in a sea of black as a clone appeared behind her, the double still appearing as it's creator had before they changed. The clone walked over to where he had hit the girl with the shuriken, blood somehow appearing on it as it laid down where the girl had fallen, taking the shuriken and placing it just in front of her stomach before closing her eyes, making it look like she had managed to take it out before passing out from blood loss.

It was ingenious and he would have been impressed if, A) He actually gave a damn about the girl, and B) Said girl wasn't currently sitting on his chest, hand over his mouth and knife in his shoulder.

Wait what?

Mizuki screamed in pain as the situation dawned on him, the girl pinning him swiftly stabbing his other shoulder and his legs, the knife going through cloth, skin, muscles and bone without any trouble and making it to painful for him to move his limbs.

All of this done with that sick, twisted smile on her face.

As he realised that there was nothing he could do, that he wouldn't be able to get this… this creature off of him, that he wouldn't be able to escape, the monster above him began to sing.

"Mama likes the Flesh, the Flesh, Mama likes the Flesh~

Smooth or Rough or Hard or Soft, Mama eats it up.

So can you help me get some stuff,

To make my Mama's hunger stop?"

The haunting melody of the song was the only thing he could focus on besides the pain of the monster sitting on him cutting up, removing his flesh from his bones without a second thought as he silently screamed into the night, his voice refusing to work no matter what he did.

No matter how desperately he wanted to be heard, for someone, anyone, to come and take him away from this hell he had found himself in.

"Papa likes the Organs, the Organs, Papa likes the Organs~

Liver or Lung, Kidney or Tongue, Papa eats it up.

Kidney is his favourite though,

So can my Papa, have the two?"

He focused on the song, that somehow beautiful melody that spoke of love and death and longing as the broken child above him shifted her focus to his stomach, cutting it up and removing his organs with an ease that spoke of long practice.

Then, she stopped, the bloody knife dropping to the ground as she slowly crawled up to be face to face with him, her blood covered hand resting on his chest, right over his heart.

At first he started panicking, his instinct naturally demanding he fight what he knew was coming, but then a strange sense of calm washed over him as he stared at the broken mask of his killer.

His singing killer.

"But me? I like the Heart, the Heart, the swiftly beating Heart~

My stomach cries for the corrupted Heart beating in your chest.

My throat sings for the Black Blood flowing through your veins.

So can you help my starving body,

Get what it demands?"

The words were wrong. They were wrong, wrong, wrongwrongwrong.

And yet, they made him calm. They washed over him, they told him what was going to happen gently and smoothly and didn't hide their intentions behind false promises of freedom and safety.

They didn't lie. They were honest and open and calming.

So it was with a calm mind and an open soul that he accepted death. That he screamed out as his heart was ripped from his body in a single pull. That he watched his heart get devoured by a small, broken (so very, very broken) girl. A child, whom he had helped torment for years and years and never felt remorse about. Even now when he was dying, his eyes dimming and his breathing disappearing, he didn't feel remorse.

Ah, look…

There was his mother.

Cheshire watched as the man under her took his final breath, his body mulated and broken, his blood covering the floor of the clearing and her already stained hoodie even bloodier than before.

She turned, her shadowed eyes locking with the wide ones of her Sensei, the brown orbs filled with a mixture of shock, fear, horror and relief.

She stared at him for a bit, mostly just to freak him out but also because she wanted to see what he would do.

Iruka-sensei flickered his eyes towards her clone, then back to her.

When she just continued to stare at him he slowly started to move, standing up and walking over to her clone, keeping his hands visible at all times as her eyes followed him.

He knelt down when he reached her clone, checking for a pulse, sighing in relief when he felt her clones pulse beating steadily under his fingers.

Iruka-sensei looked at her again, his eyes showing some kind of inner battle.

She tilted her head in response.

Finally, he seemed to come to a decision.

"Thank you."

She blinked in shock behind her mask at those words, shocked somebody would actually thank her for killing somebody.

"Why are you thanking me? For all you know I could kill you right here and now."

Iruka-sensei looked at her with a small smile as he took out a kunai.

"I know you won't do that, will you…"

She tensed, looking at the kunai wearily.

Iruka-sensei simply smiled at her, before plunging the kunai into her clone, causing it to dispel.

"Chizuru?"

She stared at her teacher, who was looking at her with a serene smile.

She cautiously took off the mask she had worn since she snapped, allowing her whiskers to be seen clear as day.

Iruka was still smiling at her, though it was a little sadder now as he stared at her face.

"How did you know?"

She didn't know what to do. She knew she would most likely have to kill her teacher, but… She wasn't sure she wanted to.

Iruka had always been kind to her, never once treating her unfairly despite his clear hatred of the fox inside of her. The only reason he couldn't pronounce her name was because he didn't have time to learn to do so.

She was crazy, not heartless.

Iruka looked at her sadly.

"I didn't. I guessed."

"You guessed?"

Her voice was flat and her face deadpan.

Iruka laughed nervously.

"You said you had learned a new technique and I know the Kage Bunshin is in the Forbidden Scroll. There is to much blood on the ground for anybody to have survived the blood loss, least of all a child yet when I checked, I found a pulse. To be honest I was just in denial when I checked, knowing I wouldn't find a pulse but still praying."

He looked at her, his eyes misty.

"I also saw you make a hand sign when you fell and heard the sound of a clone being made, but I was to worried about you to care."

She looked at him with an unreadable expression.

"I'm guessing you plan on telling the old man?"

She was slightly shocked when Iruka shook his head.

"No, I just have a question."

He stared at her, his face just as unreadable as hers.

"Why?"

She didn't need more.

"Because I'm hungry."

Iruka looked confused, so she elaborated. She could tell no one was around.

Not that it mattered, since she knew she wouldn't be able to kill Iruka. She would be found out either way.

She looked at the sky, taking in the stars shining above her.

"For as long as I can remember, I've been hungry. Nothing I did made it stop, sometime I even made it worse, but it was always there, clawing at my stomach and causing me pain. Five years ago, I found out why."

She locked eyes with Iruka.

"I'm not allowed to tell you everything, only enough so you will understand."

Seeing him nod, she continued.

"I found out who my parents were. My father is a man who goes by the name 'Eyeless Jack' and my mother is called 'Mad Madeline Hatter'. Both of them have… Peculiar tastes in food, a taste I inherited and made it impossible for me to get the nutrients my body needs through normal food. I didn't want to kill at the time, so every week after that we would meet somewhere in the forest so they could give me food, since the fox sealed in me (Yes, I know about the fox, now stop choking) made it impossible for them to take me with them to their home for reasons I am not allowed to discuss. This system worked out well enough, until I was nine."

She looked at her hands, her innocent hands, stained with invisible blood.

"Three villagers had managed to knock me out and had chained me up in one a their basements."

She saw Iruka's hands curl into fists, probably guessing what had happened.

"They tortured me. Stabbed me, punched me, burned me, until…"

She smiled.

"Until I snapped."

A pair of warm arms wrapped themselves around her and the dam broke. She told him everything she was allowed to tell him in between broken sobs as she let out all the pain she had felt at the hands of the villagers.

She needed this, needed to tell somebody other than her family about her pain and her sadness. She needed somebody she could always talk to, somebody that didn't only come once a week.

She cried until her tears dried up and her glamour automatically went up, sniffing into the chest of her favorite teacher as he lightly petted her hair.

"Chizuru, I…"

She looked up at him, her eyes bloodshot and her face wet with tears.

Iruka took a deep breath and simply looked her in the eye.

And she saw he understood.

She smiled, as Iruka stood up and she did the same.

"Chizuru, close your eyes please."

She looked at him, puzzled, but did as he said.

She felt something get wrapped tightly around her head.

"Alright, open your eyes."

She did, looking at her Sensei and seeing his hitai-ate missing from his forehead. She reached up to her own and felt cold metal meet her fingers.

"Congratulations, Chizuru! You pass!"

Hi…

I'm so sorry it took so long, but my damn brain didn't want to do shit! Still won't when it comes to my other stories, it's annoying as hell!

Also, somebody complained about Cheshire being too western, so I made it so the people in the village call her Chizuru instead. Her name is still Cheshire, because both of her parents are from english speaking countries and so Cheshire has an english name as well. She will still introduce herself as "Cheshire", but most people will call her "Chizuru" unless she teaches them to say it right.

For those who didn't figure it out, Cheshire is wearing a Pikachu hoodie. Let's just say BEN got her one as a birthday present and leave it at that.

And yes, Cheshire is friends with Lee. Don't know why, she just is.

See Ya - TheGirlyDJ