NEW ALLY

I followed Asuma back into the Hokage Tower and into the dressing room, where three women held a light pink kimono.

"Well, I will wait for you outside, Himeko-chan!" Asuma said and closed the door behind him, leaving me slightly nervous.

The three women examined me from head to toe while I looked shyly away from them. Then they exclaimed unanimously, "You're soooo cute!"

They pounced on me and tore my clothes off and put the silk kimono on me effortlessly. They gestured for me to sit on the chair, while they pulled open a drawer to reveal hundreds of small boxes and brushes.

I stared warily at the boxes and one of the women questioned, "Have you never seen your mother put on make-up before?"

I shook my head and replied solemnly, "My mother died when I was a baby."

The other woman slapped the first woman who spoke on the arm and patted me on the head gently, consoling me, "Poor thing."

One of the woman said softly, "Now darling, let us see your pretty face and we'll make you the most beautiful princess ever."

I raised my head to look at the woman, whose warm smile immediately changed into fear and disgust. The three of them leapt away from me as if I was a contagious disease.

One of them fell to the floor, cowering and muttered, "Tho...Those eyes..." I got off the chair and held out my hand to help her up.

Another woman slapped my hand away, exclaiming, "Don't touch her, you MONSTER!" The three of them ran for their lives, slamming open the door. I looked into the mirror in front of me and saw my silver eyes.

They now looked lifeless and greyish with hurt. Asuma rushed into the room and asked, concerned, "What happened? Where are the maids?"

He caught sight of my pained expression and rushed towards me, asking quickly, "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

I stared straight into his black eyes and saw no fear but worry for me, asking timidly, "Why aren't you scared of my eyes?"

I saw pity in Asuma's eyes, while he stroked my black hair gently and said, "Himeko-chan, you're my daughter. Why would I be scared of you? Your silver eyes are beautiful. I know some ignorant people are still afraid of them as they fear the power of your people, but I am certain that their views will change when they know you."

Tears fell down my cheek as I heard his endearing promise and I said with a muffled sob, "Asuma-sama, I am so happy that you would care so much about me."

He wiped my tears with his hand and suggested, "When you are ready, I would really want you to call me Father."

I opened my mouth to say "Father", but was stopped by Asuma's finger on my lips.

He smiled gently and reminded, "You don't need to force yourself." I shook my head and said more persistently, "Father."

He wrapped his arms around me and I was slightly taken aback by his warmth as Orochimaru never hugged me before. I lay motionless in his embrace, unsure of whether to hug him back or not.

There was a knock on the door and Saindaime appeared, stating, "10 minutes till the ceremony! Where are the maids?"

I looked away at the ground and Father explained, "They went away for some other supplies. Don't worry, we'll be ready soon!" The Hokage left to entertain the crowd of Konoha villagers cheering for him.

Asuma picked up the brush from the drawer and dabbed some blush, looking slightly lost and warned apologetically, "This is my first time dealing with make-up. Sorry if I mess up, Himeko-chan."

I giggled at his nervousness and he looked amused, staring at me. He noted, "This is the first time I saw you smile."

He tapped the brush lightly on my cheeks, blending the colour and stood back to examine me, announcing proudly, "Himeko-chan, you look like a true princess." I heard the Anbu signalling for us to go out to the balcony of the Tower to meet the people. I remembered what happened with the maids and walked hesitantly towards the door.

Father noticed my shuffling feet and held my hand, comforting, "It's going to be fine. I will be with you all the time." I squeezed his hand anxiously as we entered the public balcony where the Hokage stood.

The Saindaime announced sonorously, "And now I present to you, my lovely granddaughter, Himeko-chan!" At first, the loud cheering encouraged me to wave slightly at the crowd below.

However, after a few seconds, someone shouted, "Look at her eyes!" There were terrified gasps and screams after that.

They muttered things like "Monster", "the clan which could unleash Kyuubi" and "murderer". I looked defiantly away from the crowd, forcing myself to ignore the comments from the people.

One of the villagers shouted angrily, "Hokage-sama, why is this monster anointed as the new lady of the Hokage family?"

Sandaime ordered powerfully, "Villagers of Konoha, I wish for you to accept Himeko warmly as part of Konoha and ignore the things of the past!"

The villagers shook their heads and shared furious looks between them. I felt the crowd's anger even from the top of the Hokage Tower and bit my lip, stopping my tears from dropping. It seemed hours till the ceremony ended with the gold bracelets with the Konoha symbols placed around my wrists.

I remained silent back at the dressing room after the ceremony while the Hokage was still trying to calm the crowd down. I curled up in my chair, burying my head in my knees.

Father placed his hand on my head and said soothingly, "They're going to warm up to you with time. They're just scared." I wanted to know why Konoha was scared of the Spirit clan and my mother.

I needed to understand my heritage more and looked up defiantly at Father, saying, "Father, I need to know more about my clan and mother."

He nodded slowly and led me down the stairs to the Hokage office. He stated gravely, "Father kept all that was left of the Spirit Clan in here and allowed me to give you it when you are of age. Are you sure you want it so soon? The knowledge you will gain may not pleasant."

He put two cardboard boxes on the table and I frowned, asking, "Is that all?"

He sighed and nodded sadly, explaining, "About 30 years ago, there was a war between Konoha and the Spirit Clan. Konoha Anbu exterminated every clan members and burned every house and temple under the clan. The burnt remnants of the pure-blood temple is now abandoned and a graveyard for all the slaughtered ninjas."

I opened the first box and picked up a picture of my mother and Orochimaru's wedding. I tore Orochimaru out of the photo violently and took a good look at her. She had the same silver eyes but had long silver hair as well.

I slipped the photo into my pocket and rumaged in the box, finding a wrinkly notebook. The pages were yellow and on the cover was the name "Shiroi Mitsuki".

I turned the page to see page after page of music and lyrics scribbled.

Father said, "Your mother was quite a musician. I still remember her lullabies she sung to me when I was very young."

I looked at Asuma and asked, "You knew Mother?"

He nodded and smiled, answering, "Yes, I did. I was only a child at that time, but she was the kindest, gentlest woman I knew. When I knew she was pregnant and going to be married, everyone was so excited for her."

"Excited? Weren't the people in Konoha scared of her?"

Asuma laughed and explained, "When your mother first appeared publicly in the village after the war, the village hated her. Yet she was determined to fit in. She was also a great singer and gradually won Konoha's heart."

"But now..." Asuma's eyes darkened and he added, "It was because of the Kyuubi attack. I think the people felt betrayed that Mitsuki-san "unleashed" the Kyuubi and slaughtered hundreds of ninjas and Yondaime."

I muttered, "It's wasn't her fault. It was Orochimaru's."

Asuma agreed, "I know, but the fact that Mitsuki-san could harness such enormous power terrified Konoha. We all were terrified to imagine what would happen if another Spirit Clan pure-blood lost control and unleashed another beast onto the village."

"But if we can control the beasts, there would be no problems."

Asuma frowned and shook his head, ordering, "Himeko, promise me. You will never use that dangerous power ever."

I opened my mouth to argue, "But what if I can control it?"

He grabbed my shoulders and stared at me strictly, repeating, "You must never contact the tailed beasts ever."

I wondered whether I should tell him that Bakeneko was actually already spiritually connected to me, but decided not to and nodded.

At that moment, the Hokage stepped into the door, groaning, "That crowd was a handful."

I bowed apologetically and said, "Sorry, Grandfather."

The old man lifted my chin and grinned, flicking my forehead lightly. "Silly, Grandfather always love a challenge!"

He caught sight of the boxes on the table and his expression grew serious, looking at Asuma and saying, "Asuma..."

Asuma replied, "It was what Himeko-chan wanted. She needs to know the truth about the Spirit Clan."

Sandaime nodded and placed his hand on me, reassuring, "Himeko-chan, if you want someone to talk to, I will always be there for you."

I spent the night, examining everything in the boxes. Everything in the boxes were charred and the words in the books were nearly indecipherable. I learnt everything from the myths of the Spirit Clan to the structure of the family.

According to the family tree, I was the tenth generation heir of the pure-blood family, inheriting the surname "Shiroi". I now knew all the 9 beasts' names and specialties. I also read quite a lot of legends of my clan.

It was written that the first ancestor of my clan, the White Sage, sealed the only strongest demon, Ten-tailed beast, in himself and when he died, he used his ability to split the chakra demon into 9 beasts and that one in each pure-blood generation shall reincarnate as each respective tailed beast itself.

I couldn't help but shiver at the thought that this legend was true. Mother gave into her anger and turned into the Kyuubi. At that moment, I dropped the damaged book of legends in fear.

Something clicked in my mind. I understood why Orochimaru wanted to have me. I was the tenth generation, the ultimate.

Was I the reincarnation of the demon god himself, the ten-tailed beast? Did Sandaime and Asuma know?

My fingers curled into fists and rushed towards the front door of our flat to leave, only to be stopped by Asuma's hand on my shoulder.

He asked, "Where are you going?" I shrugged his hand away and placed my hand on the doorknob.

He grabbed my shoulders and turned me around roughly, asking me, "What's going on?"

I glared at him, angry tears rolling down my face. I growled, "Let go of me. You knew, didn't you?"

I could feel Bakeneko's voice say, "Let all the anger out, Himeko. I will handle him."

Asuma's eyes widened as he looked at me, saying, "Your eyes are glowing..."

Electric blue chakra began to ooze out of my body and I muttered furiously, "Asuma-sama, was it all a lie? I trusted you. Were you keeping me as your daughter just to keep a tab on the ten-tailed beast? Sandaime was in on it as well, wasn't he?" I was sobbing uncontrollably and the chakra was beginning to envelope me which burned Asuma's palms on my shoulders.

However, he held onto me tightly. I shouted angrily, "Let go of me!"

Asuma winced slightly as the chakra was scorching his skin and shouted, "Listen to me, Himeko! Sandaime and I were advised by the elders to monitor you as the ten-tailed beast as they wondered whether they would able to mould you into Konoha's greatest weapon."

The chakra increased tenfold and the chakra flames around Asuma's hands surrounded his whole body as I cried, "I knew it! It was just a plan!"

I glowered at him, only to see that tears were falling down his cheek. He explained softly, "But when we met you in real person, we realised that you were just a neglected misunderstood child. Himeko, I meant every word I said to you. You are my daughter and always will be."

With that, his grip on my shoulders loosened and he fell to the floor motionless. The ever-burning chakra flames on his body burned relentlessly. My heart skipped a beat as I saw Asuma lying face down on the floor.

I fell down to my knees and clutched my head, concentrating hard to stop the flames. However, the flames wouldn't stop.

I mentally called for Bakeneko in my mind and cried in vain repeatedly, "Please stop, just stop." I closed my eyes to focus, rocking backwards and forwards and muttering continuously, "Stop."

Bakeneko's voice said disappointedly, "So soon? Alright...fine. Next time, please don't stop my

fun." When I opened my eyes, the flames were finally gone, but Asuma didn't move an inch.

I knew that Asuma needed instant healing or he won't survive from these serious chakra burns. A faint voice of Bakeneko suggested slyly, "I could help."

I mentally growled, "No, you can't." I knew I had to act fast, but could I do? My own chakra healing could never work against such severe wounds. A part of me knew that I desperately needed the beasts' help.

I muttered, "Sorry Father, I need to break the promise again." Bakeneko sneered in my mind and laughed, taunting, "Do you think you can contact the Gobi in your sorry state?"

I bit my lip until it bled and pleaded repeatedly in my mind, "I am the pure-blood of the Spirit Clan. Answer to me, Gobi!"

Bakeneko laughed and suggested, " With your current chakra, only a serious wound would the Gobi answer to you!" I quickly grabbed the dagger from Asuma's pocket and plunged it into my stomach with full force without a second thought.

Bakeneko shouted worriedly, "Oy, Himeko! You're going to die if you summon Gobi like that!"

I repeated once again, "I am the pure-blood of the Spirit Clan. Answer to me, Gobi!" There was a loud ringing in my head and as sudden as it started, it stopped.

A cold voice said, "Did you summon me, human?" In my mind, I saw the monster who had a dolphin's head and a white horse's body.

I ordered, "Gobi, one of your specialities is healing, right? I need you to help you heal this man."

Gobi snorted and said, "With your current chakra level, I won't able to heal anyone."

I insisted, "I don't care. Just heal him!"

The Gobi said, "I've got a way to inflict his injuries onto you, but you'll die from it."

Bakeneko scolded Gobi, "What are you doing, Gobi? Are you trying to kill Himeko?"

Gobi ignored its accusation and I agreed, "Do it!" I felt Gobi's white chakra flowing from my body and surrounding my hands as I placed it on Asuma's chest.

Gobi noted monotonously, "Be prepared." The pain was instant as the white chakra flowed into Asuma. The burns on his body began to heal, while I felt the excruciating burns forming on my body. I bit my bloody lips to stop myself from passing out. After most of Asuma's burns were healed, my whole body gave way and my whole world caved in.