AN: here we go chapter 10! I finally finished chapter 9, I hit quite the rut on it for a while. Anyways I hope that you are all ready to continue to the story. I'm excited to see where it goes in this chapter, even I no longer know where this story is going to go. It took such a turn from what I had planned as my fingers flew across the keys. Anyways let's get into it.

Curses of My Father

Chapter 10 – It All Unfolds

Kakashi took Athena to see Tsunade after she was dressed, he was still rather embarrassed at being caught redhanded in bed with her by Tsunade. No he wasn't ashamed of Athena but he hadn't wanted things to be known among the village just yet, now he would have to all but beg to keep it a secret he bet. At least they would be able to talk to her about what Athena claimed to remember.

Athena was tightly gripping the armrests of her wheelchair as Kakashi pushed the chair to the Hokage's office. She was nervous about everything, talking about being caught in bed with her new lover and the things that she thought she remembered now. She prayed that they wouldn't think of her as a spy, though for all she knew she very well could be a spy. She frowned as her thoughts followed this troubling path.

"Don't worry I'm sure that Lady Tsunade won't tell anyone if we ask her to respect our privacy." Kakashi said softly as they neared the door they would enter. Athena turned a nervous smile up to him praying that he was right about that. She was really worried about ruining his image and reputation just by sleeping with him.

Kakashi knocked on the door and opened it when told to enter, he walked in to find a highly amused Hokage sitting at her desk. She was smirking at the pair clearly entertained, she also had a sense of understanding in her eyes though which put Athena at ease some. "It seems my worries about your health were unfounded if what I'm assuming happened actually did." Tsunade teased after Kakashi had closed the door.

"They did my lady." Kakashi said before Athena could even think to open her mouth. He gently placed his hands on her shoulders. "I've staked claim to her last night, but that isn't the real reason I brought her here nor is it for her check-up." He added making Tsunade raise an eyebrow.

"And pray tell what is the reason that you brought her here then Kakashi Hatake?" Tsunade asked in a clipped tone.

"Well you see, she thinks she remembers something of her past and I thought it would be of interest to you considering it's awfully similar to Anko and Sasuke." Kakashi said simply. He knew that he had her full attention now as she stared intensely at them.

"I'm listening Athena." Tsunade said indicating that she wanted the young woman to start talking.

"Well I remember a man, he had purple marks on his face and was very pale…. Not dissimilar to myself I suppose. Anyways he attacked me when I was a child, he bit into my shoulder leaving this unbelievable pain behind, I thought and wished that I would die just to escape it. It left a weird mark on my shoulder that fades often but sometimes returns and brings with it excruciating pain. He would often come back to check on me after he bit me like he needed me to survive whatever I was going through, like it was important." Athena said never once taking her eyes off Tsunade.

"I see, and when was the last time that this mark appeared?" Tsunade asked after a minute of silence.

"Uhhhh I'm not exactly sure, it's been a while. But my shoulder is starting to bug me so you might be able to see it if you look." Athena replied pulling her top to the side. Tsunade stood up and walked behind her to inspect her shoulder, she saw the dreaded curse mark there clear as day when it had been invisible before.

"So Orochimaru is at it again only this time he sent a spy." Tsunade said causing Athena's chest to tighten in panic.

"I'm not a spy! I swear I am not a spy. I was a child when I was attacked why would anyone want to use me for a spy?!" Athena exclaimed. Kakashi suddenly wasn't so positive that talking about what she remembered was a good idea with her not remembering much.

"What else could you be? With the amount of blood you lost it could affect your memory or it could be some kind of jutsu that removes the bearers memories for a time until the jutsu is released and then all hell could break loose in my village. I will not put my people at risk, you will be detained for a few days until I can get to the bottom of this." Tsunade said summoning 2 ANBU members to escort her down to the cells.

The members took Athena from Kakashi and wheeled her out of the room, Kakashi felt lost right then, he wanted to go with her but knew he had no reason to follow and that he needed to stay behind and try to convince the Hokage that she wasn't a spy. Once the door closed he turned to face Tsunade. "I don't think that she is a spy, but I can see why you would be worried about such a thing during this time of tentative peace." He said.

"I'm going to talk with Jiraiya, if anyone would know more it would be him, he could also find out more… Perhaps she is his daughter, she bears the same markings on her face as he does, she could be a huge danger Kakashi. I will let Jiraiya decide whether or not she is a danger to us.." Tsunade said sighing softly. "I don't want to think something so terrible of her but I fear that she could be his daughter and a spy or worse a distraction sent in to make us feel safe only to destroy the entire village." She added.

"I suppose she could be his daughter but then why was she in the little village and why was it attacked by ninja from the Sound where Orochimaru is rumoured to be living. Why kill the daughter of their master if she is meant to spy?" Kakashi asked as he sat on the window sill trying to think this all out.

"Because if she were terribly injured then I would be more likely to allow her into the village for aide and then they could attack with her information. She doesn't yet remember but I'm not convinced that she isn't dangerous. She could very well be here as a plot of his…. So sweet and innocent seeming, it would make sense to use someone that would never be suspected of being a spy." Tsunade mused eyeing him seriously.

Kakashi realized that it made sense to think of it that way he just didn't want to think that the sweet naïve young woman he had spent the night making love to could be a spy sent here to destroy the village. He wanted to believe that she was just a victim of circumstance and that she was the kind woman he had fallen for, he also saw how he was biased about her especially after last night. Jiraiya arrived a few minutes later and Tsunade reported what little she knew to him asking him to find out what he could while also asking him what he knew of Orochimaru having a daughter.

"He didn't have one that I knew of, I haven't seen this girl though so I can't give you an assessment on if I think she is his or not. But I will look into it and see if there is anything indicating if he could have fathered a child." Jiraiya promised. Tsunade took him to the cell that was housing Athena and Jiraiya stopped dead. Aside from colour differences she looked a lot like Orochimaru, which led him to believe that she was in fact his daughter.

"Well I think it's safe to assume she is his daughter, I've never seen anyone with the same markings as him before… I will leave right away to see what I can find out." He said and vanished in a puff of smoke. Tsunade eyed the young woman who was nervously biting her lip, so it appeared that they now had a whole new level of threat and mystery in the village. Why would he send his own daughter, if that's what she was, into the village to infiltrate, she didn't seem that strong.

Kakashi had left Tsunade's office after Jiraiya left, he wandered back to his place feeling lost and confused. How could he not have sensed that something could be wrong with the lovely young woman he had just slept with? He was a jounin and an ANBU member, a skilled one at that, and he had sensed that nothing was off about her. Maybe she was evil and he was just too blinded by her to see that, or maybe this was some sort of sick punishment for something he had done in a past life.

~2 Weeks Later~

Jiraiya had returned and rushed to Tsunade's office, he had found out what they wanted to know and it didn't look good for the young woman still locked in a cell. However, unknown to everyone she had begun remembering other things and she began to shift into the machine her father had made her to be. Everything would be so much more difficult now but she prayed that she would have the strength to do as she had been ordered while in such a weak condition.

"Tsunade you busy?" Jiraiya asked as he stepped into her office, Kakashi was just handing in the findings from a mission he had been forced to go on. "Oh good you're here that makes this faster than having to tell my story twice." He said upon seeing the other shinobi.

Kakashi looked over at Jiraiya curiously as did Tsunade, it wasn't until the door was shut that he began speaking again. "So I found out that Orochimaru did in fact have a daughter, with a woman who lived on Mother Island. Her name is Athena, same as the young woman in the cells, but her hair had been red when she was a child unlike the Athena we know with black hair. She was indeed marked with her father's curse seal, one of the village healers from Mother Island was brought in to help make sure she survived. It seems that Orochimaru went to a great deal of trouble to make sure that his daughter survived the procedure." Jiraiya said.

Kakashi had paled as the information was revealed, this would mean that the woman he had fallen for was truly the daughter of the traitor Orochimaru and was therefore not to be trusted. He closed his eyes tightly and sighed. "Then why did we find her abandoned in a village of misfits?" he asked.

"That I'm not sure about, I couldn't find anything out after she was about 7 or 8. Apparently they left the area on some sort of family trip and were never seen from again. The villagers just assumed that they had decided that small island life wasn't for them anymore and moved onto a bigger city. But I am assuming that her being in that village and it being attacked was no accident or natural occurrence. I have a feeling that it was all part of a plan to get her here to the leaf." Jiraiya said softly placing a supportive hand on Kakashi's shoulder. The other man shrugged it off and went to stand at the window to think upon what Jiraiya had said.

"Well then in the cells is the best place for her, perhaps if she remembers more about herself then we can press her for information. I should send Ibiki down to interrogate her but I think I will send Kakashi first. He already has a connection formed with her so it might work to our advantage to use that. After all I'm sure falling in love with him wasn't part of the plan, if she really is in love." Tsunade said softly.

Kakashi felt his heart breaking, they wanted him to use whatever there was between him and Athena to gather information from her, if there was anything to gain. He had to be being punished for something he had done as a child or in a past life, but he would do as his Hokage ordered him. "When do you want me to go?" he asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Straight away, I want to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible." Tsunade replied sternly. Kakashi nodded and left the room going to do as he had been ordered, it would be the first time in two weeks that he had seen Athena. Once he was gone Tsunade turned to Jiraiya and spoke, "Follow him and make sure you pay close attention to how she reacts and bring me all information straight away." Jiraiya also nodded and left to do her bidding.

Kakashi followed the familiar pathway down to the cells used for holding criminals under the Hokage tower, he didn't want to face Athena but he had to. He needed answers as much as the Hokage did, he needed to know if everything was lost for him. He walked up to her cell and carefully let himself in with the keys he had taken. He froze there sat Athena but she wasn't warm looking like she usually was, she looked cold and closed off.

"Athena, how are you feeling? Are they taking good care of you?" he asked starting off easy.

"I've been better but I've also been worse, and they take decent care of me." Athena replied voice emotionless. This set off warning bells for Kakashi as she had always seemed to be a person of such warmth to him before.

"So I learned some information about your past that might interest you." He said watching her closely. He quickly recounted the information that Jiraiya had gathered to her and waited for her to speak.

"I know all that, while I've been sitting here in my jail I have regained much of my memory. I will not fail my father." She said coldly. Kakashi felt his heart freeze, did this mean she really was trying to bring the village down or was she playing games because he hadn't come to see her for two weeks. It wasn't his fault he hadn't come to visit her but he had been forced to go on a mission that had taken nearly the whole two weeks to complete.

"So you really are a spy sent here to destroy the village?" Kakashi asked sadly, his whole face had fallen into a mask of sadness and hurt. Athena eyed him with cold blue eyes, she was past being loving or caring with him it seemed.

"I am here to destroy you and this village. I will be the instrument of destruction, while I admit falling for you wasn't a part of the plan neither was losing my memories like I did." Athena said simply.

Kakashi felt his already broken heart shatter into a million pieces, she had just told him that she had fallen for him and yet she wouldn't consider changing. "Do you even love me at all?" Kakashi asked in a broken manner.

"No, I do not love you." Athena said in a cold and emotionless manner.

Kakashi got up and left the cell his head hanging as tears fell down his face. Jiraiya watched Athena closely seeing how her shoulders slumped and her head lowered before soft sobs left her. She was crying whether over her last words or denying her love of the man she clearly loved very much it was unclear.

"You can lie to him but you cannot lie to yourself child…. It hurts trying to protect the one we love doesn't it….. He will come back to you when you need him most I do not doubt that." Jiraiya said standing in front of the cell.

"I said the cruelest thing I could think of to say so that he won't get close to me and therefore won't get hurt. Father will not let what we did be taken lightly, it very nearly messed up his entire plan….. If I fell in love any more with Kakashi than I already am I would surely abandon my mission…. It is bad enough I slept with him and debated a future with him, he deserves someone better than me." Athena said tears still streaming down her face.

"I might be able to help you but you have a lot of questions to answer that will help your situation." He said to her. "You give us all the details of Orochimaru's plan and I will see what I can do about getting you out of there and back in the arms of your lover." He added.

"But if I reveal father's plan then it would put us all in danger, me especially." Athena said looking up at Jiraiya with tear filled eyes.

"That's where the village would come in we would help take care of you and I'm sure that Kakashi wouldn't let anything happen to you." Jiraiya said clearly trying to bait her into revealing the plan.

Athena thought for a moment and then began telling Jiraiya all about Orochimaru's plans for the village, and what her part in it was. She gave him all the most vital information first and then filled in any blanks afterwards for him. Jiraiya watched as she got up from her chair and slowly walked to the bed to lay down, seemed her mind wasn't the only thing to recover in the past two weeks.

Jiraiya returned to Tsunade and gave her a word for word account of what had happened. "So rather than stay happy and have Kakashi she pushed him away… Are you sure the tears she was shedding were real Jiraiya?" Tsunade asked him.

"Tsunade….. I know those were real tears, she was heartbroken at having to be so cruel to him and lie. She loves him dearly and wants very much to be with him, she already told me that she had thought about having a future with him. I say let's use her love of him to bring her out of the cells and use this information against Orochimaru." He replied smiling brightly.

"How on earth will we convince Kakashi that she really does love him now though?" she questioned the man standing before her.

"You just leave that to me my dear Tsunade, you work on putting the information she has given us to good use." Jiraiya said turning and leaving, he took Kakashi back down to the cells saying that he needed to at least say goodbye for closure.

"Come on Kakashi you need the closure of saying goodbye forever at least." Jiraiya said clapping the younger man on the shoulder.

"Yeah I suppose you're right it just hurts." Kakashi said.

They soon arrived in front of Athena's cell and she was lying in the bed but soon sat up to look at them. Kakashi stepped inside and Jiraiya winked at her from behind him, he hoped his plan would work. "I just wanted to come and say my final goodbye…. I won't be coming back to visit you ever again, it is too painful to be here with someone who claimed to love me and yet so clearly said when asked that she holds no love for me." Kakashi said not noticing the tears welling up in her eyes.

Kakashi turned and made his way back to the door and was thus unprepared for the body that flung itself at him from behind nearly causing him to fall. "I don't want you to go…. I…. I….. I don't want to see you hurt though, I have to push you away. Father would be so mad if I abandoned my mission for love….. Please don't stop coming to see me…" she begged before breaking into sobs.

Kakashi flashed shocked and confused eyes up to Jiraiya who just smiled and turned to leave and give them a moment alone. "You were lying earlier?" he asked softly afraid to hold out too much hope.

"Yes I was lying you fool. I would never let a man have my body if I didn't love them….. I would never surrender myself like that if I wasn't madly in love." She replied placing a gentle kiss on the back of his neck.

Kakashi shivered and turned around to face her, he wasn't all that surprised that she had run to him but he could see her trembling whether from exertion or nerves he wasn't sure but he took her into his arms and held her close. He pulled down his mask and gently kissed her sighing in relief when she returned it eagerly. She clearly wanted him as much as he did her because her hands began roaming while his settled on her hips.

"Let's say we give your bed a proper breaking in before I have to leave?" he teased not entirely serious.

"I'd say that we better hurry then." She countered shocking him once more but he found his feet moving towards the bed so that he could make love to her once more. They finished and were just fixing their clothes when the guards showed up with her food.

"I need to go talk to Tsunade….. But I will be back tomorrow I promise Athena." He said relieved when she flashed him a huge smile before digging into her dinner.

Kakashi knocked on Tsunade's office door and quickly entered when given permission, he was ready to launch into a huge explanation but was cut off at seeing Jiraiya leaning against the wall smirking. "I take it your little meeting went well judging by the shocked look on your face and by how long you were gone for." Jiraiya teased.

Kakashi blushed and lowered his head slightly making Tsunade chuckle. "Jiraiya and I have been talking as we have decided that as long as you are willing to take responsibility for her then we will allow Athena to be released into your care for now Kakashi." Tsunade told him with a gentle smile.

"Really! Uhhh I mean ok I promise to take responsibility for her Lady Hokage. But I have a question, when do you think he will attack?" he asked.

"We aren't sure but I want you to both be prepared." Tsunade warned and then dismissed Kakashi.

What they didn't know was that Orochimaru was already on his way to complete the plans that Athena had willingly handed over. It was going to be a bloody battle but one things for sure it would be interesting.

AN: well that took longer than I expected but here it is. Sorry for the slow updating process, I work a lot and have trouble getting my inspiration to stay with me sometimes. I plan to get started right away on the next chapter to maybe update a bit faster next time. Thinking only 1 or 2 more chapters for this book and then I will probably move onto a sequel or finish up some of my other works and then start the sequel. I have a different plan of posting for it ;) Anyways thanks for staying with me this long and please review if you have time. Thanks again for reading my little bit of fun and sorry if the chapter seems rushed at all my thoughts were all over the place on this one.