Here is the part three for chapter three. I think this gets a little more interesting.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto. Also, couple of the ANBUs that shows up in my story belongs to BlackPANDA xD as well as a certain dojutsu. That belongs to BlackPANDA xD. However, other then the ones I just mentioned, this story belongs to ME.
Thanks for reading and I hope you will enjoy it. I apologize if you think my writing suck. I admit I'm not a professional so deal with it. Don't like it, don't read it. But if you have a constructive criticism at the end of this chapter, I'm open for them. Please read and review.
- Kaerelie Cecilia, the Queen of B1aCk RoSE
Chapter 3: Reiko's Story
Karasu, or Itachi nii-san as Reiko has came to call him, was like a big brother that she never had. Reiko at first was afraid of showing her emotions due to the harsh practices back in ANBU Roots but Itachi always encouraged her to show them. Sure, it felt awkward to plaster a smile on her face or laugh – hell, she wasn't even sure how she was supposed to laugh or when she was supposed to laugh. However, Itachi taught her how to feel and how to be a human. Now, she could laugh like a child her age and she sometimes even acted her age too, pouting adorably which caused her already deep dimples to deepen even more.
Reiko closed her eyes on her bed as she remembered the day she transferred to Itachi nii-san's ANBU squad from Danzo-sama's ANBU Root. The memories of her fighting Itachi nii-san flashed across her mind and she let a small smile on her lips. She remembered Itachi nii-san asking her if she would mind being trained by him.
*Start Flashback*
Karasu and Reiko were walking over to the medical ward of the ANBU along with the group of medics. Reiko could tell that despite the cool exterior that Karasu was showing, he was in an enormous amount of pain from the gashes that he got from her. He refused the help from the medics though he obviously was fighting to walk straight. Reiko still wasn't sure how she did it but she knew that it was her. How? That, she had no answer to.
After reaching the medical ward, the medics quickly set to treat Reiko's and Karasu's wounds. Reiko only had few gashes and bruises so she was quickly healed. However, Karasu was a different story.
"Karasu-san, please take off your shirt so that we can treat the wounds that you have received." A blond female medic instructed Karasu.
Karasu for a moment seemed a bit annoyed at having to take his shirt off but complied without any complaint. He peeled off his blood-sodden shirt, a slight frown flitting across his face as the action reopened the gashes that had stopped.
Reiko could tell that Karasu had been training hard for a very long time. She could see the Karasu's skin taut against his muscles, the kind that she had only seen in experienced ANBU Root members. Karasu didn't have an ounce of fat anywhere on his body and Reiko decided that whatever training he did, it must be pretty tough one.
The medics proceeded to heal the battered body of Karasu and soon, the bruises were healed and the numerous gashes that he received became thin pink line. After the medics were done with Karasu, he and Reiko started to walk back toward their quarters. Holding his blood-soaked shirt in one hand, Karasu started to walk bare-chested alongside Reiko. Silence hung between them as they walked until Karasu decided to break it.
"Fenikkusu, I have noticed that you have a bloodline, most likely a dojutsu." Karasu stated.
"I do not know of such. My parents, from what I heard, were just common civilians. They were the Okubos, the rich family that were massacred three years ago." Reiko told him.
"It is possible that you have just wakened them. Are you sure your parents were just civilians? Perhaps one of them was a shinobi and passed down the bloodline to you."
"I am absolutely sure there was no such bloodline in my family. My father was a successful businessman who made a fortune from trading between villages. My mother always stayed at home surrounded by our servants or go to some fancy parties." Reiko answered.
"Hmm. That is truly curious. Anyways, I have been wishing to ask you if you would like me to train you. I could probably train you in all types: Taijutsu, Kenjutsu, Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and Dojutsu. Especially in the last one. I have noticed that the dojutsu that you possess is particularly powerful and it will be dangerous for others to learn of it. I want you to keep what had just passed between us here secret. Don't tell anyone including Hokage-sama and Danzo-sama. Less knows of it, the safer you'll be." Karasu told her.
"Yes, Taichou-sama."
"I want you to call me Itachi from now on and I will call you Reiko. You will only address me as Taichou when there is other ANBUs present." Itachi told her.
"Yes, Itachi-sama." Reiko frowned internally as calling someone by their name sounded awkward to her, especially when he was her Taichou-sama.
"And drop the suffix –sama. Also, I'll rather not have you call me sensei either. For this, I want you and I to be more like friends helping each other out. I know how proficient you are with your skills and I am more than happy to learn from you. If you wish, you may call me nii-san." Itachi told her with a smile.
Itachi and Reiko walked the rest of the way in silence. As they were walking to Reiko's quarters, Reiko's vision suddenly warped and she started seeing mixture of weird mixture of mist-like colors. Flinching at the sudden onslaught of colors, Reiko halted and clutched her eyes, unsure of what was happening. Itachi immediately looked at her as she flinched and approached her as she was clutching at her eyes.
"Reiko, are you alright? What happened?" Itachi asked with his right hand resting on his kunai, ready to attack and defend should it be necessary.
Reiko could still see the swarm of colors behind the barrier of her hands. Moreover, the colors seemed to be radiating off Itachi. Violet. Indigo. Navy blue. For some strange reasons that she couldn't explain, Reiko could 'see' that Itachi was worried.
"I'm fine, Itachi-san. I apologize for detaining you." Reiko told Itachi as she forced herself to adjust to the new vision.
As Reiko looked at him, Itachi immediately knew something was amiss. Reiko's usual gray eyes were gone and a pair of vermillion red eyeswith markings took its place.
There was two triangles, one of them upside down and overlapping each other, and formed a six pointed star. In the hexagon at the center, three tomoes similar to sharingan rested. Six boomerang-looking shuriken markings were placed between each spikes of the star.
"Reiko, wait. Your eyes… Your dojutsu's activated." Itachi told her.
"My dojutus?"
"Yes."
"The dojutsu that you told me about? Is that the reason why I can suddenly see the colors of emotions swarming around you?" Reiko asked, wondering if this dojutsu actually caused the gashes that she inflicted on Itachi-san.
"You can see emotions?" Itachi asked incredulously.
"I'm not exactly sure but I can see colors swarming around you and somehow, I know what each colors mean." Reiko answered, unsure of whether this was a good thing or not.
Suddenly, Reiko clutched her head as she started hearing voices talking to her. Reiko was pretty sure this wasn't caused by the dojutsu, but some kind of memory that was locked deep inside her or something.
~ Inside Reiko's mind ~
"Now, my child, you know what we want. Give it to me. Tell me where it is." A leering voice belonging to a woman told her menacingly and Reiko found herself backing up slowly.
Reiko looked around her and found that the corridor she was just walking through with Itachi-san was gone and instead, a reddish desert took its place. The desert was void of all leaving things save for a woman, a man, and herself.
"My dear princess, give it to me and we promise not to hurt you." This time, a masculine voice whispered to her ears in a cruel voice that made Reiko flinch.
"I don't know what you are talking about. Just leave me alone. I really don't know what it is or where it is. Just please leave me alone." Reiko screamed in terror as people suddenly popped out of nowhere and menacingly approached her.
As the mob grabbed her with identical grin of complete sadism, Reiko screamed as loudly as her voice could allow and thrashed wildly in their grasp.
"Reiko, wake up. Whatever it is that you are seeing right now, it's not real. Wake up."
Reiko heard a familiar voice coming through the mob of people. She wasn't quite sure of whom it belonged to though. As the mob of people tried to pry the information of whatever it is they wanted, Reiko looked around at the massive swarm of people and saw color red all around her. Sadism. Sadism. Sadism. Everywhere she looked, she could see sadism radiating off them. She started thrashing once more and the woman slapped her hard across her face. Reiko began to scream as tears ran down her cheeks.
Itachi wasn't sure of what to do. One moment, Reiko was clutching her head as though a massive headache was rolling in and the next moment, she started screaming. Reiko started to speak as though she was talking to someone and Itachi knew that she was seeing something, similar to a genjutsu. However, Itachi didn't find even a mildest trace of genjutsu so he was quite sure this was something else. Reiko screamed that she didn't know what 'they' were talking about and to leave her alone. Her red eyes lost the focus and were semi-glazed.
To avoid unnecessary attention, Itachi swiftly picked up Reiko and went into the nearest room he could find. He ended up going into an unused tactical room. Reiko started thrashing in his arms and her red eyes started darting around, still unfocused. Itachi tried to wake her up but the attempt came up futile.
"Damn it." Itachi cussed softly.
Itachi activated his sharingan and forced Reiko's red eyes to look into his blood red eyes. Soon, Itachi entered into the vision that Reiko was seeing. Itachi frowned as he spotted a massive swarm of people with identical malignant expression on their faces approaching Reiko. Reiko thrashed in the grasp of a man as a woman spoke something in her ears. Itachi couldn't quite catch what the woman said but Reiko started screaming even more loudly.
Itachi quickly made his way over to Reiko. He was really getting worried for normally emotionless Reiko was crying, actually more like sobbing.
"Reiko, none of this is real. Wake up. Look at me, Reiko. None of this is real." Itachi told her when she was just about a foot away from him.
The female that was torturing Reiko turned to Itachi with a malicious grin on her otherwise beautiful face.
"Look who's here. We have the Uchiha prodigy and heir, Itachi Uchiha. My, my. I didn't know our little Reiko-chan actually had someone who cared." The woman jeered as she laughed malignantly.
Itachi was suddenly unsure about where this was real or just a dream. He was quite certain that the people he was seeing weren't really there but he had a feeling that their consciousness were actually inside Reiko's mind in a way similar to Itachi's.
Ignoring the woman's comment, Itachi quickly wrestled Reiko from the grasp of the man. With his superior strength, he was able to wrestle Reiko away from the man.
Holding Reiko close to him, Itachi shook her in attempt to wake her up. Reiko opened her red eyes that she closed when the woman told her something and directed her gaze on Itachi.
"Reiko, none of this is real. Please wake up. None of this is real."Itachi told her in a most soothing voice he could muster.
"This isn't real? How do I wake up?" Reiko croaked in a shaky voice.
"This isn't real. Clear your mind and focus on waking up. Reiko, just push the people off your mind." Itachi instructed.
Following Itachi's instruction, Reiko closed her eyes and pushed the images of the mob off her mind. Soon, Reiko could only see the blissful whiteness surrounding her and she forced her heavy eyelids to open.
Itachi quickly withdrew from Reiko's mind after making sure she was out of the hellish vision. He waited calmly for Reiko to wake up from the real world, wondering what was all that about. The ache in Reiko's young face was gone and was replaced with regal serenity. Her eyelids fluttered open, revealing her usual grey eyes.
Looking around at her surroundings, Reiko's eyes caught Itachi as he was gazing down on her in a way that a big brother would.
"Thank you, Itachi… nii-san." Reiko sadi the last part after a small pause.
Itachi just simply smiled at the new suffix Reiko just gave to him. He liked it and he was more than happy to treat Reiko as his little sister.
"You're welcome, Reiko-chan." Itachi playfully ruffled Reiko's long indigo hair.
Itachi thought about asking who the people were but decided against it as he remembered Reiko screaming that she doesn't know and stuff. Besides, he didn't want to be the one to force her to think about the nightmarish vision.
Reiko and Itachi proceeded to Reiko's quarter. Stopping in front of Reiko's door, Itachi spoke.
"Reiko-chan, meet me tomorrow at training ground six. Are you okay with five o'clock in the morning?" Itachi asked.
"Yes, Itachi nii-san." Reiko told him.
Reiko disappeared into her quarter and Itachi started to walk back to his quarter. He let himself smile a little at the prospect of teaching possibly the strongest kunoichi Fire Nation had ever seen.
~ XXX ~
Reiko woke up at the steady beeping of her alarm clock. Turning off her alarm, she looked at the time.
3:00 AM
Reiko got out of her bed and went to the restroom to shower. After a quick cold shower, she changed into a tight spaghetti strap black tank top and comfortable black skinny jeans-looking flexible pants. The linen shaped around her lean muscular legs and her petite but muscular body. Despite her obvious young age, her limbs were lean and muscular due to the grueling trainings she went through every day with Danzo-sama.
After a quick breakfast and getting herself ready, Reiko left her quarters. Her wristwatch read 3:25 AM.
In just five minutes, she arrived at the training ground six. Reiko started to stretch, not wanting to suffer from cramps in her very first day of training. She had to say that she was looking forward to this. It wasn't everyday that Reiko met someone who could actually beat her. In fact, Itachi was the first one ever to be able to beat her.
Reiko stretched for ten minutes or so and started doing her usual an hour long warm-up. She started out with 500 laps around Konoha and ended with some taijutsus. Repeated kicking the tree, Reiko sensed a presence. In a one fluid motion, she through a kunai at the intruder and aimed a deadly kick to the tree, knocking it over.
Itachi walked out from the shadows, her kunai caught between his two fingers.
"I apologize. I thought you were just an intruder, Itachi nii-san." Reiko wasn't sure of what to do.
"That is just fine. It just tells me that you are very aware of your surroundings." Itachi told her.
"What will we start out with, Itachi nii-san?" Reiko asked, still not quite comfortable with the suffix nii-san.
"We will first start out with taijutsu, then ninjutsu, then kenjutsu, then genjutsu, and we will end with your dojutsu. Now I want you run around Konoha 500 times but this time, you will be blindfolded. I want you to listen to your surroundings and be aware of everything around you so that you can just zip through anything without having to look." Itachi told her.
"Yes, Itachi nii-san."
Itachi proceeded to wrap the bandages around Reiko's eyes. After giving the knot the last tug, he sent Reiko up to her first training task with an infinitesimal smile.
Reiko at first thought the task would be easy after the grueling training sessions with Danzo-sama. However, she was proven wrong after the first lap. She found that it was hard to actually dodge just by her other senses and she frowned as she once again bumped into a tree.
'What is that I am doing wrong?' Reiko thought.
Then, suddenly she had an answer. She must clear her mind and listen to the nature around her. Clearing her mind, Reiko listened at the nature and suddenly began to hear all kinds of sounds. Using the sounds as her reference, she restarted her laps, this time pushing her legs to go faster and faster.
Reiko finally finished her five hundredth lap and returned to the training ground six. From the sound, she was sure Itachi nii-san was training as well. It sounded as though he was training some of his taijutsu moves.
"Itachi nii-san, I am finished." Reiko approached him without taking the bandages off her eyes.
"Good. Now I will throw weapons at you and I want you to dodge them all with your bandages on." Itachi told her.
Itachi admitted that he was surprised at Reiko's intelligence. It only took her a lap to figure out what she was supposed to do. Moreover, she was very proficient at laps as well. Itachi wondered what kind of training she went through before that she could do five hundred laps so easily.
For the next two hours, Reiko went through the most grueling taijutsu session she had ever done. She tried her best in every single task and soon, she was able to meet all the requirements Itachi nii-san had set up for the day. After taijutsu session and a small ten-minute-break, a two-hour-long ninjutsu session followed.
Reiko was thoroughly tired when she was done with all the sessions save for dojutsu session. Each session lasted for two hours and were the most taxing training she had done.
"Now, it's time for the dojutsu session, Reiko-chan." Itachi told her.
"Yes, Itachi nii-san."
"Now, I want you to focus your chakra to your eyes. Close your eyes and open it." Itachi instructed her.
Reiko followed Itachi nii-san's instructions and started to focus her chakra to her eyes. Suddenly, a strange feeling appeared on her eyes and her vision changed once again. It was just like the day before, the onslaught of colors dizzying her eyes. She tried to shift the colors so that she could adjust to her new vision.
"Good. Now I want you to attempt to control it. Try to mold your chakra from behind your eyes and control what you are seeing. You told me you can see feelings, right? Well, I want you to focus your vision." Itachi told her, his Sharingan blazing as well.
Following Itachi nii-san's instructions, Reiko tried to focus her vision. Suddenly, the massive wave of colors subsided and her vision cleared. She could still see the colors of emotions radiating from the living things but now, she wasn't blinded by them.
"Okay. Now I can see again." Reiko told him.
"Now, I want you to manipulate your chakra behind your eyes to control the blades. I want you to slice through that tree just with your eyes." Itachi told her, pointing at a thick tree nearby.
Reiko tried with all her might but all she could do was just small nicks here and there. She was terribly out of chakra and was barely controlling her eyes. Refusing to disappoint her new sensei, she tried to bring forth all of her remaining chakra. Suddenly, she felt a chakra stream separate from her own streaming through her body.
The chakra was tens of thousand times stronger than her usual one and her body felt revitalized after it ran through her body. She renewed her strength and attempted to slice the tree once more. All of the sudden, Reiko could see multiple blades right in front of her, poised to attack the tree.
Controlling the blades with her eyes as though they were just puppets, she concentrated on slicing the tree. The blades swished through the air and in a blink of an eye, the tree was sliced neatly in half, the cut running to the root of the tree. The tree started to fall and Itachi sidestepped out of the way.
Itachi was impressed. This was her first try and she could perform this well. Itachi wondered how well she could perform when she was fully trained in her dojutsu. He was however suspicious of all the chakra Reiko had suddenly gained. One moment, she was completely devoid of chakra and the next moment, she was revitalized with strong pulse of chakra running through her.
Reiko was confused at the sudden surge of chakra. She was hundred percent sure that she was exhausted of chakra but this strong pulse of chakra that now ran through her… It just didn't make sense. Besides, she knew that the chakra didn't belong to her. While her chakra was mellow, this chakra gave her a malignant feeling.
Shrugging off the strange feelings, Reiko and Itachi continued to train for next two hours. By the time they were done, both of them were quite exhausted but happy about the result.
"Reiko-chan, why don't we just call it a day? I think we had enough for now and besides, it's getting late. We should get ready for tomorrow's patrol." Itachi told her.
Looking at her watch, Reiko saw that it was already three o'clock in the afternoon. She had been training with Itachi nii-san for around ten hours now. Counting the little warm-up that she did, she trained for eleven to twelve hours. A strange feeling rose in her and she somehow knew that it was pride of what she had just accomplished.
Walking back to her quarters, Reiko was actually happy. Itachi told her to meet him tomorrow as well at the same place but an hour earlier. They would have a shorter practice session but after the patrol, if she still wants to, then they could have some more training. Reiko loved her new training and had a feeling that she would learn many things.
~ XXX ~
Inside her quarters, Reiko absentmindedly traced the ANBU tattoo she had gotten on her right arm two years ago as she pondered about what had happened during the training. The swirly tattoo of ANBU was branded on her the day she entered ANBU Root. After having a light shower to clean off all the sweat, Reiko proceeded to make herself presentable. Looking at the mirror in her bathroom, something caught her eyes. Beneath the ANBU tattoo, there was a second tattoo.
The tattoo was in red, purplish black, and blue. At the first glance, it seemed like a butterfly in sideway reflection but after a close examination, Reiko found that it was actually a bird. The wings were of blue with little bit of red. With purplish black body, flames of similar purplish black and red radiated from the bird.
'It's like a phoenix.' She thought.
Suddenly, a voice, or more accurately a thought, that didn't belong to her flashed across her mind.
'You are quite smart little girl, aren't you my little Fenni?' A feline voice growled from the depth of her mind.
'Who… who are you? What are you doing inside my mind?' Reiko asked, unsure of what to do.
'Me? I am the great Jubi no Fenikkusu.' The voice proudly declared, followed by a menacing laughter.
'Wait, but Jubi doesn't exist. From the information that Danzo-sama gave me in ANBU Roots, there is only nine tailed beasts, the strongest being Kyubi no Kitsune. Kyubi is sealed inside Naruto Uzumaki, a six-year-old boy currently residing in Konohagakure.' Reiko stated, an unfamiliar feeling of worry surfacing from the cage that she locked them in two years ago but somehow reopened by Itachi.
'Well, start believing it. You know of the old story about Rikkudo Sennin, don't you?' The voice asked.
'Of course. Danzo-sama made sure that I was familiar with all legends, lest any of them be true. Rikkudo Sennin is a legendary shinobi who defeated all of the tailed beasts and brought peace to shinobi world. He created ninjutsu and he is said to be the most powerful shinobi ever existed. He had two sons, the older one being Uchiha and younger being Senju. He chose the younger brother as his heir, causing the animosity between the two brothers which last to this day, or at least until the Senju clan was wiped out save for few. None of the survivors are however fully Senju and the main branch of Senju have ceased to exist.' Reiko narrated as much as she knew about the Rikkudo Sennin.
'You are absolutely right, my child. However, you are leaving out an important fact. You see, the tailed beasts that he fought were actually just a beast, a ten tailed beast or as you humans call me, Jubi. After defeating me, he sealed me inside himself, thus becoming the first Jinchuriki. When his death neared, he divided up all my chakra and created the nine tailed beasts as you now know today. After divvying up my chakra, he sealed his body inside his Shinra Tensei along with me, creating what you mortals now know as the moon.' The voice explained.
'Wait, but if you were sealed in the moon, what are you doing in my mind?' Reiko asked.
'Well, before Rikkudo Sennin died, he left a prophecy that when a Senju worthy of great respect appears, he or she will be ordained with honor, or curse depending on how you see it, of the burden of Jubi.' The voice answered.
'But I'm not a Senju. I'm Reiko Okubo, the only daughter of the wealthy Okubo family. My parents were just cilvilians, not a shinobi.' Reiko told Jubi.
'No, child. The Okubos had a great dept to repay to your parents and so when your parents died, they took you in. You were barely a month old then. Your father was the first born of the main branch family of Senju, Reoru Senju and your mother was the first born of Uzumaki main branch family. Naruto's mother, Kushina Uzumaki, is actually the younger sister of your mother, Mikiko Uzumaki.' The feminine voice of Jubi told Reiko.
'I… I'm the daughter of the main branch of Senju and Uzumaki?' Reiko stammered, shock obvious on her face.
'Yes, Fenni. Moreover, the Uzumaki clan is actually a branch that broke off from Senju and Uchiha long time ago. The heir of Senju clan and the heiress of Uchiha clan broke off from their respective clans along with couple shinobis. They started a new clan with the name 'Uzumaki' in the land of Whirlpools. This fact was kept secret for years and years until it finally got lost in time.' Jubi explained patiently.
'And your point is?' Reiko asked, unsure of where all of this was heading to.
'Well, the Uzumakis eventually added another clan to its mix. Hyugas, a clan that broke off from Uchihas, were added when couple of the main branch family decided to rebel against their clan policy and joined the Uzumakis. With the three powerful dojutsus combined, including the Rinnegans that made its appearance every now and then in Senjus, the offspring was the ultimate dojutsu, Kuroibaragan.' The voice finished.
'Kuroibaragan? Black roses?' Reiko smirked to herself.
'Yes. Kuroibaragan is red like the Sharingan of Uchihas and contain their three tomoes in the center. However, they also have two triangles forming a six-pointed star and six blade-looking marks are placed between each spike. You own one just like the one I just described.' Jubi told her.
'You think I own Kuroibaragan?' Reiko asked incredulously.
'I'm certain of it. Kuroibaragan not only allows you to se emotions of others, but also allows you to control invisible blades as well. Moreover, those ones are only the first stage. There is total of five stages and at the fifth stage, you could probably call yourself the most powerful shinobi alive. However, this dojutsu is so rare, even rarer than Rinnegan, that hardly anyone knows of it.' The voice smirked.
'Nice. But are you saying that I'm the tenth Jinchuriki?' Reiko asked.
'Yes. Apparently, you are supposedly the 'worthy' Senju. Rikkudo Sennin knew that the seal binding me to him will weaking gradually over time and at some point, it's going to break. By sealing me in you, he basically rebuilt the seal. As you become the tenth Jinchuriki, the chakras that I once possessed comes back to me except the ones that were dispersed into other tailed beasts. The chakra I currently have is much greater than Kyubi's but it is nowhere near to what I once psosesed. You could, however, help me by rebuilding my chakra from the tailed beasts and rip off the ring around my right foot.' Jubi told Reiko in a sly voice.
'No. But I have couple more questions. You told me that you are Jubi no Fenikkusu. Does that mean you are Ten Tailed Phoenix? And why am I getting this tattoo? Also, how come I didn't know you were inside me until now?' Reiko asked.
'I take the shape of Phoenix, the legendary bird that rises from the flame once every thousand years. The 'tattoo', as you call it, is not a real tattoo. You can think of it more as a seal. The 'tattoo' you just received is my emblem and you got it because you summoned my chakra during your training session with the Uchiha while working on your Kuroibaragan.' The voice answered.
'Okay. But you still haven't answered my last question.' Reiko stated.
'Patience, Fenni. You weren't aware of me until now because you simply never called to me. You always relied on your own chakra and never needed me.' Jubi told her.
'Fine. Now what do I do? Do I just tell other?' Reiko asked.
'No. Keep the entire thing secret. You may however tell the young Uchiha about your Kuroibaragan but you may not tell anyone, ANYONE, about you being the tenth jinchuriki. It will be very dangerous for you.' Jubi told her.
'Okay. Also, thanks for helping me back in the training, Jubi.' Reiko told Jubi.
'You're welcome, Fenni.' With that, the voice withdrew from her mind and Reiko was left with just herself once again.
The next morning, she went through the similar routine and arrived at the training ground. Meeting up with Itachi nii-san, she told him everything Jubi told her about Kuroibaragan. Itachi nii-san only nodded and listened attentively.
"Reiko, I think it will be best if we keep this entire thing quiet. This kind of bloodline is so powerful that the other nations will want to steal it. Besides, I don't think the Hyugas and Uchihas are going to like the idea of having to live with a person who has a dojutsu more powerful than theirs." Itachi told her gravely.
"Yes, Itachi nii-san." Reiko answered.
~ XXX ~
From then, Reiko trained with Itachi every day for hours and hours, on and off their missions. Reiko could feel herself getting stronger and stronger and her dojutsu has improved to the point where she could manipulate the blades with great ease. Itachi had improved as well. His Sharingan which hosted only two tomoes now hosted three and was already in stage two.
With her newfound emotions, Reiko always called Itachi as Itachi nii-san and Itachi treated her like his little sister. Reiko still didn't have much friends but she became closer with her ANBU teammates.
~ XXX ~
A year later…
"Reiko, I just received a new mission. It's an S-rank mission and I might not be able to train with you like I used to. You are now good enough to train on your own anyways." Itachi told Reiko.
"What is it?" Reiko asked, disappointed at the news.
"I can't tell you. Hokage-sama explicitly told me to keep it a secret." Itachi answered.
Reiko tried not to show it but inside, she was deeply disappointed. If he has an S-rank mission, it meant he would probably go out of the village.
"Where are you going?" Reiko asked.
"I'm actually just staying here. I am to watch over this kid because there had been multiple attempts on his life, shinobis and civilians all alike." Itachi answered, unsure of telling her this much was okay or not.
Reiko brightened couple shades. Itachi nii-san wasn't going anywhere. She would still be able to be around him. She watched at the disappearing figure as Itachi nii-san left for his mission.
~ XXX ~
Couple days later…
Reiko was training when she felt a familiar presence coming from a nearby training ground. The scent of the chakra was something that she could recognize miles away. It was Itachi's. However, she also spotted two other chakra scents as well. Using her Kuroibaragan, she decided to scout the area.
The scene that met Reiko's eyes was something that she had least expected. Itachi was just sitting leisurely at the treetop, watching over as two boys were training. Moreover, one of the boys had… the same eyes that she had. It was the blond one, the jinchuriki for Kyubi. It was Naruto Uzumaki, the cousin that Jubi told her about.
Masking her chakra, she slowly approached the three and watched quietly from the shadow. She could tell that Naruto hadn't been training his Kuroibaragan for long. However, he controlled his Kuroibaragan with quite a bit of skill and Reiko had to admit that he was pretty good compared to the time he probably trained.
Suddenly, Naruto turned around and looked toward her direction with Kuroibaragan blazing in his eyes.
"Hey, you can come out now, too. I know you are there, whoever you are." Naruto yelled.
'Shit. How did he know? Right. He has Kuroibaragan. He can probably sense my feelings even if he can't sense my chakra.' Reiko cursed in her mind.
Itachi quickly spun on his feet, his hands both at his kunais and his Sharingan blazing under his crow mask.
Reiko walked out into the clearing and Itachi visibly relaxed.
'What's Reiko doing out here without her mask, just in her training outfit. Right, right now is her training time. She must have been training when she caught our chakra scent.' Itachi thought.
"Who are you? You look pretty young to be a shinobi. How old are you anyways?" Naruto asked.
"I'm Reiko and am currently five years old. There is no age limit to a shinobi, Naruto Uzumaki." Reiko told him.
Naruto's blazing red eyes widened a fraction when Reiko knew his name. Moreover, the girl was two years younger than him.
"Cool. I'm five too." A boy with raven hair and red eyes told her excitedly. "Do you want to train with us?"
Naruto suddenly gave the boy a sharp jab at his rib. "Dattebayo, this is supposed to be a secret!" Then the volume dropped couple notch. "You know …"
Reiko couldn't quite catch the last part but she was pretty sure it was about Naruto's bloodline, Kuroibaragan.
"You mean his bloodline?" Reiko asked.
The two boys suddenly whipped their heads toward her.
"NANI! YOU KNOW ABOUT IT?" the raven haired boy asked.
"Well, yeah. I have one too, the exact one that Naruto has." Reiko told them.
For some reason, Reiko felt as though she could tell the two. Naruto wouldn't tell anyone since he was keeping his a secret as well and she didn't think the raven haired boy would tell anyone either since he was pretty discrete about Naruto's. Besides, she was glad to find someone who had the same bloodline as she does. Now, she can train with someone with same bloodline.
"So… can I train with you, you know just on our bloodline." Reiko asked.
"Wait, are you a shinobi? You dress and act like one." The raven haired boy asked.
"Yes. I'm actually an ANBU but don't really think much about it." Reiko told them. "Anyways, you didn't tell me your name yet." Reiko told the raven haired boy.
"I'm Kano." He told her.
Reiko could sense some strange dark chakra deep inside Kano but he radiated just simpleminded happiness. Even though some part of him sounded a bit odd and he acted mature for his age, Reiko disregarded them. Besides, Reiko acted much older for her age anyways. She decided that Kano was trustable or at least mostly trustable.
She was looking forward to their training.
~ XXX ~
They trained, trained, and trained. Naruto, Kano, and Reiko had finally formed a group of sort. For the first time in her life, Reiko had a group of friends and she really loved the feeling. Along with Itachi nii-san, she loved her life.
A year passed again and it was time for Naruto to enter the Ninja Academy. Even though Reiko was two years younger than him, she decided that she wanted to enroll as well. Disguising herself as just a commoner, she entered the Academy.
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I really enjoyed writing this chapter as well, especially where Reiko meets the Jubi. For those of you who might be a bit confused, Reiko is currently four years old, Itachi is nine years old, and Kakashi (Ookami) is fourteen years old. Reiko is two years younger than Sasuke, Naruto, and their friends. I am aware that I'm making the age gap between Itachi and Sasuke much smaller into three years but I really don't want to make a pair have more age difference than five years. I think five years is already pushing it and I'm not going to make it like ten year gap. Besides, I like writing about teenagers and if I make Itachi and Kakashi too old, I won't get to write about their life as teens later on.
Also, I have some more things that I want to clear up.
Karasu is Itachi Uchiha and it stands for Crow.
Fenikkusu is Reiko Okubo and it stands for Phoenix.
Ookami is Kakashi Hatake and it stands for Wolf.
Taichou is just a title that they use to call their leader.
I hope that clears a bit. I just thought it will be much better if I used the Japanese version instead of just calling them Crow, Wolf, Phoenix, and etc. But I still used the English version for some of them just to avoid some confusion. You guys might get confused if I called every one of them in Japanese name. Besides, I get to save time that I would otherwise have used in looking up the words to see how to pronounce them. :)
Also, I changed Reiko's last name from Senju to Okubo. But you guys already found out that Reiko is actually Reiko Senju not Reiko Okubo anyways so yeah... Also, Naruto is Reiko's cousin, in case some of you didn't catch that.
One more thing, I'm going to write about Reiko's first Academy day in the next chapter part three. You guys will just have to wait to find out what happens in her first day.
Thanks for reading and please review!
- Kaerelie Cecilia, the Queen of B1aCk RoSE