1/11/2009
Greetings everyone! A shoutout to my muses Asuma, Kushina, Zetsu_Akatuski, and Uchiha_Curse. You four rock!

If interested, I have posted a new story. "Orange Masks and Chopsticks" A Tobi/OC, Madara/OC story.

I do not own Naruto or "Still Loving You" by the Scorpions.

Chapter 6: Train against Instinct

Song of the Chapter:
Still Loving You – Scorpions
Reason: There still exists the connection no matter how strained.

Moriko woke up alone but not afraid. She slipped out of the covers and gave a small smile seeing the sketch pad on a desk away from her. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness as she walked towards the bathroom. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, she saw that her eyes looked worn but she still looked youthful despite her age. Another step and Moriko was overcome by an intense wave of nausea. She clutched her stomach as she fell down and when her head come in contact with the sink, she knocked herself out.

Sasori walked back to his room with the orders of retrieving Moriko for the icebreaker that to everyone's horror, Tobi had planned out. When he opened the door, he noticed the bed empty but the bathroom light on. "Moriko-san?" He heard no response and so frowning, he walked into the open bathroom and seeing her unconscious on the floor, he scooped her up. There were more odd things now that Sasori noticed. Her forehead was bloody and the place he judged she hit it, the sink, was dented. Quickly scooping up the raven haired woman in his arms, he dashed over to Kakuzu's room and knocked the door over. The stitched ninja was at first going to complain until he saw Moriko.

"What happened to her?" He placed her on his bed and wiped away the blood on her forehead. Sasori shrugged as Kakuzu began to apply a balm that the two had made before. They watched with satisfaction as the scrapes began to hiss with a healing energy. "Did she happen to be ill when you brought her here?"

"No… when I placed my seal on her, she was in perfect health." Kakuzu's glowing eyes stilled on the puppet for a second before hardening.

"You put that seal on her? Are you a fucking idiot?" Sasori ignored the question as he watched Moriko's slow breathing. "Kekkei genkai or not chances exist she might have chakra sickness due to your chakra from the seal. It is important that she gets trained to deal with the extensive amount of chakra now since you removed that block in her mind preventing non essential chakra from circulating in her body. She… Sasori do you realize that the chakra inside her could shorten her lifespan by stressing her body?"

Sasori looked at Kakuzu and the former Waterfall ninja could have sworn he saw concern in his normally stoic eyes. "She did not react when the seal was put in such as typical with chakra sickness… Nor was there a reaction when she strengthened it with her own chakra. It has to be something else..."

"So… she might have something else… but what exactly is the problem…" He looked at her and noted her breathing which seemed to normalize as her eyelids fluttered open and she sat up in confusion.

"Where am I?" Before Kakuzu or Sasori could reply, Moriko grasped her stomach and lurched forward in pain. She tried to detangle herself from the sheets and it was proved that she was unable to, she decided to call up the kekkei genkai she was still unfamiliar with. Eyes glowing, a metallic bucket swerved haphazardly through the air and stopped right in front of her. She did not hesitate as her body saw it upon itself to empty the contents of her stomach. "Sasori-sama… Kakuzu-san… my stomach…"

Sasori wiped her face with a damp cloth and used his chakra strings to empty the bucket. "Did you eat anything unusual recently?" She raised an eyebrow as she bit her lower lip.

"Define unusual. I thought the ramen was odd, but other than that…" She was silenced by a growling from Kakuzu.

"Stop lying. I can feel your pulse quicken. What the fuck did you ingest?" She sighed and looked at the two of them.

"Iron supplements alright? Ever since I was five, for my general health I have had to take them daily." She twitched uncomfortably as her hands touched her forehead. "It is time for me to take one now alright?" She stood up and was almost out the door when she felt chakra strings stop her. "Sasori-sama?"

The puppet master's eyebrow was furrowed. "You are addicted to them aren't you? You are essentially poisoning yourself. Give me those pills." She looked at both men with confusion on her face.

"My father gave me those pills to take… I am serious! I have been following his instruction to the letter and never deviated. Why do you two not believe me?"

Kakuzu nodded at Sasori and silently the two men came to an agreement. "Let us see one of the supplements." Moriko raised an eyebrow but led the two men to Sasori's room where she opened a bag and pulled out a little pill bottle and absentmindedly tossed it behind her where Kakuzu caught it. "Now… let's see." Kakuzu's eyes widen reading the label as he passes the container to Sasori. "You know that each supplement has a gram of iron? A gram and not like a few milligrams!"

"…I only know I am supposed to take them. They are expensive and necessary for my health." Kakuzu facepalmed as Sasori looked seriously at Moriko.

"You should be dead with this dosage…" Moriko's eyes froze as she looked at the two men. "Especially if this was the same dosage you had as a child of five, this should have poisoned you…" Moriko felt cold as if she was forced to swallow ice water.

"I… do not understand." Her eyes barely held back tears and she held her forehead. "Why is everything just… crashing around me…?" She rubs her forehead irritably. "First the sink…"

Sasori looked at Kakuzu with a hazy expression in his eyes. "My sink is dented. From the looks of it, she collapsed and hit her forehead on the sink." Kakuzu's eyes widened and he stared at Sasori.

"That is tempered steel Sasori… And she dented it? This is not good sign and for once, I'm not thinking of the cost to replace it." They look at Sasori's sink and sure enough, the dent is quite visible and Kakuzu gets an idea. "Moriko-san, quickly defend yourself!" Moriko looks up in surprise as she see's Kakuzu's body hardening into steel and he tries to backhand her. She crosses her arms as she holds them in front of her in a defensive stance and stops the blow with confusion in her eyes. The stitched ninja frowns and looks at Sasori. "Just as I thought."

Moriko lowers her arms and gazes at the two men. "What… is the matter?"

Sasori stares at Kakuzu, being unable to come to same conclusion. "A combination of your kekkei genkai and the supplements have imparted some metallic qualities onto your body." Moriko flexed her fingers and looked at him. "You may be immortal if all of your body intakes the iron and incorporates it into its own being." Moriko did not know when she swayed or how long she was in Sasori's arms, but she felt the cushion of the bed and her eyelids slammed shut.

Moriko's Dream…

Moriko looked around and wondered what she had done to deserve this. One misplaced bet with Kakashi and she had to take his students to the beach… great. Not that they were not complaining but the youngest Uchiha constantly grumbled about being unable to train with a civilian while the pink haired girl was staring at him and the blond hyperactive genin was dashing about, happy to have a break. Moriko sat in a chair and stared at them. Naruto ran out happily to her. "Moriko-sensei, aren't you going to go swim, dattebayo?"

Moriko smiled. "Technically I am not your sensei and I cannot swim so therefore there is no conceivable reason for me to go into the water." Naruto tilted his head in confusion while Sasuke smirked.

"All she is doing is babysitting us. If we go out in the water using our chakra, she can't stop us from doing anything. She isn't even a ninja." Moriko felt a stab at her heart, but her face quickly cooled.

"Look, please cooperate. You should be lucky to get this break from Kakashi-kun. He is a trainaholic and I know that tomorrow will not be easy on any of you." She tried to get back to the sketches when Sasuke smirked at Naruto.

"Well, I insist on training." He dashed into the water staying above using his chakra; a feat that Moriko knew took intense training when he sunk and fast. Moriko dashed out of her chair and ran out to Sasuke who was overtaken by the current. She dragged Sasuke out and she thanked the powers that be that she was slightly taller than him. Sasuke looked embarrassed that he was saved by a civilian of anyone but his eyes widened watching Moriko. "What the hell?"

She looked down at her arms and felt her muscles stiffen. She had an odd tan coloration and moving around hurt. The last thing she remembered before was that she did not take her supplements. She tumbled forward barely caught by Naruto. "She is so damn heavy!"

Sakura smacked him uptop the head. "Naruto!"

End Moriko's Dream

Moriko opened her eyes but made no other movements. I did not take those supplements today… Is that why I am displaying such… characteristics like that one day? Since when do people rust…?

Kakashi stared at Tsunade who currently was watching Ibiki interrogate Hitoshi Suna. "Hokage-sama… what is going on?"

Tsunade looked at Kakashi, softening her glance. "We found some incriminating medical evidence about Moriko." Kakashi's hands tightened on the files he held as he watched Hitoshi deny everything that Ibiki was determined to throw against him. "You know her iron supplements right?"

Kakashi nodded. Times were rare that she did not have the bottle of them close at hand just in case she got stranded. "Yes, she had a medical condition."

Tsunade gave a grim smirk. "Not a medical condition but a condition resulting from her kekkei genkai surfacing." She flickered through the medical report and sighed. "Once it surfaces, you can choose to nourish the kekkei genkai's needs or you can ignore it and force it dormant. In the Suna clan, the very moment that someone's kekkei genkai activates, iron is fed to the person so that the body becomes one with the very thing it affects. At the Sand Village, ingesting sand did the trick but here, there is no sand to eat so supplements had to work. Some people like Hitoshi here did not have the fortune of being given iron when his kekkei genkai appeared so he was out of luck." Kakashi's brow furrowed as he watched the father deny everything that Ibiki was asking him.

"So… knowing that he gave her iron in the form of supplements?" Tsunade nodded and flipped to another page of the medical report. "Why if he discouraged her becoming a ninja would he give her the thing that could make her a powerful ninja?"

Tsunade retrieved a scroll and from the looks of it, a very old political scroll. "He had a mission. His clan wanted to be able to retrieve the power of the Kazekage yet again, but there was no way without a conceivable heir who did not have the power. Hitoshi's child Moriko displayed the power of their kekkei genkai so if he didn't give her the supplement, she would have been taken away to be raised by the clan. Therefore he complied and hoped that if she did not desire the life of a shinobi, then she would not be forced into his clan's plot." Ibiki turned around to peer at Tsunade through the glass wall. For the first time, Hitoshi noticed that someone besides the interrogator and the Hokage were watching him and he began to panic.

Kakashi looked at Tsunade who nodded. The silver haired ninja walked inside the interrogation room and stared at the man that at times, he considered his own father. "Hitoshi-san… are you aware of the circumstances?"

"Kakashi-kun… my daughter, is she alright?" The silver haired man lifted up his headband to expose the Sharingan.

"She has gone willingly with the Akatsuki." Hitoshi's eyes widened as she tried to struggle against the chakra infused rope that bound him to the chair. "In fact, it appears the members who captured her are Deidara formally of the Rock Village and Sasori of the Red Sands." Hitoshi squirmed in his chair at the name.

"Sasori captured my daughter?" His eyes began shaking rapidly in fear and his heartbeat was erratic. "Sasori-sama captured my daughter…" Kakashi raised an eyebrow as Ibiki reentered his part of the interrogation.

"Sasori-sama?" Hitoshi shrank back realizing his mistake. Tsunade walked in realizing what had to be done. She placed hands onto Hitoshi's temples and pushed chakra into him.

"Odd… he has a barrier similar to the one I erected in Moriko's mind all those years ago except this one is stronger. Much stronger. I don't think I can break it as easily nor as effortlessly as Sasori broke Moriko's." Kakashi looked at her and gazed at the father who was sweating profusely, suffering the effects of the mind barrier.

"Please… I want to help my child. Do… do what you have to find out what could save Moriko-chan. Please!" Taking that as consent, Tsunade poured her chakra into the man's mental barriers shattering them as she had shattered the ground with her fists. His screams of pain were to be expected but Kakashi could not help but notice that the breaking down of the barriers varied greatly with how Sasori broke down Tsunade's barrier.

The screams subsided and Hitoshi panted in his chair, breathing heavily. His eyes were glazed and he began to drool. Tsunade cursed. "Sasori had a backup plan apparently. The minute I destroyed the barrier, some sort of secondary barrier is disrupting the flow of neurons. We will have to watch Hitoshi for any relapses into his previous behavior." She stood up and left Ibiki to deal with the brain dead man. She turned to Kakashi. "We need to go to the office; I believe you had some documents for me?"

Kakashi nodded and casting one last glance at his friend's father follows the Hokage.

Moriko was walking around and looking relatively worse for wear. Her hair was stiff and her skin cold. Deidara noticed her stumbling in the hallway and barely caught her as she almost tumbled. "Moriko-chan, what's wrong, un?"

"Iron supplements… need to consume…" Her voice was almost robotic in recitation and Deidara noted with a grunt that she seemed to become heavy.

"Iron supplements? Why would you need to take those, un?" He tried to take her to Sasori's room but she dug her heels into the ground and with the unusual amount of weight she magically gained, he was unable to force her in so he decided to take her to Kakuzu.

"Kakuzu-san or Sasori-sama should have them. Whenever I do not consume them, weird things happen." He frowned and noted that her skin seemed tanner than normal.

"Like you suddenly weighing a ton?" She gave an unladylike grunt and managed to stand up.

"That… is one effect I remember. There was only a couple of times I forgot and that was due to… circumstances."

Flashback

Moriko was only thirteen and she had known that things were never perfect. Even her best friend had flaws that he refused to admit. She wanted to be the best she could be, even being a shinobi sounded feasible. However, whenever she thought about it, a pain seemed to strike her gut. Ignoring it, Moriko dug around her room for some of the weapons that Kakashi carried and left upon habit. Gathering a handful of kunai, she walked to the forest training ground.

Tossing the projectiles was different from anything she had tried. She just could not get the hang of it and grunted, tried to drop the kunai currently in her hand but the thing stuck. She frowned as it came off of her hand when she used her left hand to take it off of her right but now was stuck to her left. Groaning, she headed over to her parent's house. Although her father was surprised, she did not see what the iron supplement he literally shoved down her throat had to do with her walking home and having various metallic items stuck to her like a magnet.

End Flashback

Sasori could not deny the evidence that Moriko presented so against his better judgment, gave her one of the deadly supplements and watched her visibly sigh in relief. She smiled and looked at her. "Since I have the same kekkei genkai as the Third Kazekage, do you know anything about the condition?"

Sasori brushed back her hair and felt a smirk come across his face hearing the sharp intake of breath. "I knew there was something special so when I was last through the Sand Village, there was a ninja just itching to leave, but never worked up the resolve. So… I gave him the resolve." Moriko felt herself turn cold and she looked at Sasori; not completely comprehending his words. "I placed a barrier within his mind far stronger than the one in yours."

Moriko did not fell them until they ran down her face but Sasori definitely saw those tears. "You put a mind block on my father?"

Sasori nodded. "It was later I found out that he was in fact part of the Suna clan, but I figured that having him under my control to an extent would make things easier. If anything, my influence stopped you from being involved in a plot to seize the seat of Kazekage among the Suna clan." Moriko sighed and looked at him.

"I… I am so confused now…" Sasori nodded and motioned for her to follow him outside. There was a training ground and he gave her a couple of kunai.

"I know that once you control the kekkei genkai, you should be able to unleash your traits without having to deal with the side effects of the supplements. I believe that's how the Third Kazekage's work anyways." Moriko nodded as she held the kunai in her hands and with a small smile, looked at Sasori awaiting instruction.

"Now pay close attention; I hate repeating myself. This is how you throw a kunai."