A*N*- I don't own Okami and I don't own Naruto.
Amaterasu was awake again an hour or so before dawn. She got up, stumbling, forgetting momentarily that she was back on two feet now. She dressed herself and headed to the meeting place Naruto had shown her the night before. No one was there, for this Amaterasu was grateful. She climbed up onto the railing, staring in the direction of the east horizon. She held out her hands and an open scroll appeared, a perfect replica of the buildings and trees in front of her. She kneeled on the ground and opened a bottle of Celestial ink and poured it into a bowl that appeared out of thin air. Her tail dipped into the bowl and drew a circle slightly below where the horizon would be on the picture and the Sun's light turned the pitch black sky slowly green then light blue as it started to rise. The ink replaced itself in the bottle as the bowl and scroll disappeared and Amaterasu smiled. It was good to know she retained her Sunrise ability as always.
The Sun was a little ways up when Amaterasu caught Naruto's scent approaching with two other scents she didn't recognize. The blonde's two companions paused when they saw her but the sleepy blonde sped up to a jog.
"Ammy-chan!" he said happily.
Amaterasu smiled wide at the enthusiastic blonde.
"Ohayou, Naruto-kun"
The blonde's grin just got wider. He turned to the pink haired girl and black haired boy behind him.
"Sakura-chan, Sasuke-teme, this is our new teammate. The Old man told me and Kakashi last night." He said excitedly.
Amaterasu was treated to a slight glare from Sakura, and an indifferent stare from Sasuke. She ignored both reactions and bowed slightly.
" It's a pleasure to meet you, I am Omikami Amaterasu." She said. Sakura nodded and muttered a nice to meet you, Sasuke grunted.
"Have you been waiting long, Ammy-chan?" Naruto asked.
"Not long, a little before sunrise."
"I don't know why Kaka-sensei was so rude about you being on time, he'll be 3 hours late for sure."
Amaterasu just shrugged and smiled.
Sure enough, three and a half hours later, Kakashi strolled up lazily with a bright orange book held up to his face. He looked up and noticed Amaterasu.
"Ah, I see you've met our new team mate."
"Yeah, no thanks to you. Your late! Again!" Naruto griped.
Kakashi eye-smiled at the boy.
"Sorry about that, there was a kitten stuck in a tree and…"
"LIAR," both Sakura and Naruto yelled angrily. Amaterasu winced. Kakashi chuckled.
"Let's be on our way, we've got a day of D-class missions ahead of us."
"Ano…Kakashi-sensei." Sakura said timidly.
The silver haired jounin turned to look at her.
"Shouldn't Amaterasu-san train before being let out on any missions?" the pink haired girl asked.
"The Hokage has already tested and passed Amaterasu-chan for any missions Team 7 goes on." Kakashi going back to his book.
"Yes, but shouldn't we know what she's capable of? Otherwise we wont be able to trust her to watch our backs."
Kakashi looked up again at the pink haired girl, then over to Amaterasu who just shrugged.
"Amaterasu-chan, introduce yourself, tell us your likes and dislikes then you'll be sparring against Sakura." He said finally. Amaterasu nodded.
"I am Omikami Amaterasu, age 12. I'm from Kamiki no Sato and I'm the daughter of the village elder there. I like…sunrises, flowers, animals…and sumi-e painting. Hmm….there isn't really much I dislike." She said, smiling sweetly.
Amaterasu and Sakura then went to face opposite of each other, fifty feet apart on the bridge. Amaterasu couldn't quite understand why being the supposed village elder's daughter automatically made her feeble in some way. She slid into a fighting stance.
"Go" Kakashi said boredly.
Sakura attacked her head on and Amaterasu used her Fleet-foot technique to easily move out of the way. She did a back-spinning kick and caught Sakura in the back. The pink haired girl slid forward a few feet and turned on a dime and launched several kunai at the white haired goddess. Amaterasu in turn used Holy Eagle to launch herself twenty feet straight up. She did the hand-seals for a henge, but didn't put any of her chakra behind, except to cause an explosion of smoke. She then shifted into her wolf form and dropped to the ground. She snarled, showing long white teeth. She used Sakura's surprised to headbutt the girl to the ground, then sat on her. Sakura was cringing, then opened one eye to look at Amaterasu who just wagged her tail before moving off. Another burst of smoke hid her shift back.
"You're able to do a Henge? How long can you hold that form?" Kakashi asked.
"Indefinitely."
The silver haired man looked at her sharply.
"That's impossible." Sakura said, brushing herself off and glaring sourly at the white haired girl.
"Not necessarily. My ancestors could change back and forth into wolves at will using no chakra at all. This is just a watered down version of that. It takes a small amount of chakra to initiate the transformation and a little more to transform back." Amaterasu lied.
Kakashi said nothing, he went back to reading his book. Amaterasu turned to Sakura.
"Do I pass your standards, Sakura-san?" she said politely.
The pink haired girl nodded, inwardly seething.
"Let's get going to the missions office then." Kakashi said boredly, walking in the direction of the Hokage tower. Naruto used the time it took them to reach the tower to relate how boring being a genin was to Amaterasu. She listened to the blonde's complaints, amused.
They arrived at the missions office and received their D-class mission scroll and a box.
"This is the most prized pet of Miyuki-hime, daughter of the Fire Daimyo. She lost it the last time they came to visit the village and requested we deliver it back to them." Sandaime explained.
Naruto got ready to make his usual protests when Sakura slapped a hand over his mouth. Sandaime chuckled.
"Miyuki-hime is staying in a nearby village, you will deliver her pet to her and be back. This mission should only take you over night. " Sarutobi continued. His eyes caught Amaterasu's and he looked pointedly at the box. This got the golden-eyed girl to gaze at the box curiously, trying to figure out what was inside.
"Under no circumstances are you to open the box and let the creature escape again." Sandaime said finally, giving Naruto a pointed look. The blonde rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, pouting.
Amaterasu couldn't help but giggle at the blonde's expression.
Kakashi chuckled nervously and dragged the blonde out of the room before he tried to disrespect the Hokage any further.
They took the main road out of Konohagakure and traveled till nightfall, reaching the small village where Miyuki-hime was staying at the local hostel.
"You don't understand how grateful I am that you brought Yue back to me." Said the princess petting the white rabbit that had been in the box. She was younger then the genin, but acted like an adult. Something about her was setting off Amaterasu's senses.
"I would be much obliged that you stay here tonight, my father will cover the room charges." The hime said smiling.
"We thank you for your kindness." Kakashi said, smiling at the little girl.
They ended up with two rooms for the night, the boys in one, and the girls in the other. Amaterasu was lying awake in bed remembering fun times traveling with Issun across Nippon. She froze when she heard footsteps outside in the garden. There was a tinkling laughter. Amaterasu got up and peeked her head outside.
"Miyuki-hime." She said, seeing the black haired little girl.
The princess just laughed again and walked out of the garden. Amaterasu frowned, it wouldn't be safe for the princess to wander alone so she ran after her. The little girl led her outside of the small village to an old shrine just outside of it. Miyuki was sitting on the steps holding her rabbit and smiling. Amaterasu paused, feeling slightly uneasy.
The clouds overhead slowly blew apart, revealing a full moon, casting light on the shrine. The rabbit in the girl's arms started to glow. When the light faded away, the rabbits white fur was stained with crimson markings. It looked at Amaterasu.
" O Great Sun Goddess Amaterasu, all that is good and mother to us all. It is a tragedy what befell you on the Celestial Plains but it brings me great joy to see you again." Miyuki said, the moon god's voice overlapping her own. Amaterasu just smiled.
"I'm sorry that you all had to be scattered once again, Yumigami." Amaterasu said sadly.
"Great Goddess, do not be sad, rejoice your new form, for once you regain your mighty power the likes of Yami will never stand a chance against." The moon god said excitedly. Amaterasu just chuckled.
Yumigami started to glow once again, and it's power orb flew into Amaterasu making her pale skin glow momentarily. It faded, and Amaterasu looked back and Miyuki who was still smiling.
"Yue told me he's been waiting a long time for you, Goddess." She said quietly. Amaterasu looked up at the crescent moon.
" I have been waiting a long time to be reborn back into this world again, hime."
Miyuki giggled and slid open the door to the shrine.
"Yue has been in my family for a long time, Amaterasu-sama, my grandmother gave him to me, and her grandmother gave him to her. A rosary was also passed down with him, which my mother had hidden in this shrine. I believe they are rightfully yours."
Amaterasu looked inside the shrine curiously and Miyuki stepped around her, walking over to a heavily locked box sitting on the shrine table. The little girl pulled out a key and unlocked the box and opened the lid, revealing the Devout Beads. When Amaterasu moved closer, the beads lifted from their resting place and flew to her, spun around her a couple of times before disappearing. Amaterasu bowed to Miyuki.
"Thankyou hime-sama."
"No Amaterasu-sama, it is I who am thanking you for honoring me with your presence. If there is anything you need, it is yours."
"All I need is your faith, Miyuki-chan" Amaterasu said smiling again.
Miyuki nodded.
"I'd better head back to bed before they notice I'm missing."
Amaterasu chuckled and they headed back to the hostel.
Team 7 headed back to Konohagakure the next morning and reported back to the mission room to turn in the scroll. The Sandaime requested to speak to Amaterasu to see how she was faring with shinobi life. That wasn't what he actually wanted to talk about though.
"I received a message from Kamiki no Sato." He said looking out of his windows,
Amaterasu perked up curiously.
"The Village Elder says that the Konohana Sakura tree is blooming again, something that hasn't happened since you were encased in stone once again." Sandaime continued.
"Sakuya" Amaterasu said, surprised.
"Hm?"
"The name of the Tree Spirit within Konohana, Sakuya, I didn't think she still resided within the tree." Amaterasu explained.
" Ah, well something is happening and I've set up a mission to Kamiki, basically a delivery of transferral papers for you along with a band of merchants who are heading that way."
Amaterasu nodded and thanked the Hokage for his help, before heading home to ponder what could've caused Sakuya to awaken again. She fell asleep and dreamed of the Village Festival that she and Issun had attended after the defeat of Orochi.
