Thunder Bird

Naruto isn't mine, neither are any songs in this story

Chapter One: Arrival

Mist encased the field, two cursed as they tried to find their opponent.

A large shuriken taking form as it cut through them, blood splattering onto the ground. The mist let up as a seventeen year old caught the shuriken as it made a turn, coming back to her.

"WHAT?" Sakura screeched, staring at the Hokage. Naruto grinned, crossing his arms over his chest. Kakashi frowned behind the mask, watching the Hokage suspiciously.

The Hokage watched as Sasuke looked up at him, dark eyes narrow. Two shinobi had been slaughtered outside of Konoha, suspected to be by the Akatsuki. But there had been a rite left on the bodies, one similar to what Yondaime had used during his lifetime.

But Yondaime was dead, the only other user of the rite had been Kakashi, and he had been in the team's company at the time of the attack.

So there were rumors of war spreading like wildfire over the ANBU and Jonin, and it was leaking through to the Chunin and Academy.

And so, the Hokage had taken it upon himself to inform Kakashi and his team.

Sitting on the railing of the bridge, Sakura tried to stay calm, Naruto leaning next to her and staring at the water. Sasuke was leaning on her other side, back against the railing and staring at the sky as it started to rain.

Kakashi stood behind them, leaning against the railing on the other side, reading his novel as usual. It would have seemed like any other day if it hadn't been for the news.

The sound of footsteps against wood, quick and near silent. It went unnoticed by the team, only Kakashi's attention half caught.

Two arms were flung around the Jonin's neck, followed by a chest that pressed against his arm, a head on his shoulder. The scent was that of one long lost, but Kakashi couldn't help but snap his book closed, embracing her.

"Kakashi!" That got the trio's attention. Sasuke's head snapped up, Sakura turned to quickly that Naruto had to grab her waist to keep her from falling into the river.

Wrapped around Kakashi was a black haired girl, black pants tattered and torn, revealing the fishnet under them, a black sleeveless shirt with fishnet sleeves and fingerless gloves. Around her forehead was the hitai-ate of Konoha.

Turning her face to team seven, only Naruto and Sakura we taken aback by her eyes. One red, the other black.

"Hey Sas." The two shocked faces turned to Sasuke in curiosity.

"So, what are you doing back here? I thought you had been dragged off to Lightning Country." Sasuke asked, standing in the clearing that he'd dragged the teenager to the moment Kakashi had gotten his team's attention.

She pouted, a look far too young for her reputation. "Sas, didn't you miss me? I mean, I didn't even get to say bye to you before I left. What happened to the happy-go-lucky little kid I used to know?"

"He died with the rest of his clan, you remember what Itachi did." Black hair covered her red eye, the black staring at Sasuke. "And don't give me that look, Raiji, I know you're not angry at him. You and Itachi could never hate eachother."

"The Chyachi family was murdered by Orochimaru, Sas. You didn't come home to see the murder with your six month developed baby brother in his hands! I couldn't even look at my mother when the ANBU squad came to get the bodies, the only corpse that wasn't mangled beond recognition was Chikai, and her head was missing." Raiji Chyachi looked at him, and Sasuke watched the black turn a piercing red, three wheels appearing around the pupil.

"But then, I guess you didn't get a chance to leave the house, did you, Sas?" Sasuke looked at her, eyes narrow. "Four years, little brother, and you never bothered to ask why the village calls me Shinigami?"

Sakura watched from the bushes as Sasuke talked to the teenager, wondering what was going on. She heard the word Shinigami, and saw Sasuke's eyes widen. Sakura let out a growl as the girl hugged Sasuke, and before she knew it she'd thrown a shuriken at the pair. The girl let out a yelp, pulling away from the Uchiha and pulling the weapon from her arm.
"Who did that!" Raiji said, watching the blood flow down her arm. Sasuke looked around, his eyes landing on Sakura's hiding place.

"Stay away from Sasuke!" Sakura stood up, and Raiji turned her head to her sharply, Sasuke's hand flying out to stop her, hiding her eyes from Sakura in the process.

"Lemme guess, Haruno Sakura? Yes, pink hair, green eyes, forehead, you must be a Haruno. Sasuke, are the girls still chasing you?" Raiji raised an eyebrow, looking at him out of the corner of her eye before abruptly grabbing Sasuke's hand, yanking it down as far as the stiff muscles would allow her, and effectively biting down on his knuckles.

Sasuke yelped, and Sakura saw Raiji's eyes, taking a step back and tripping over a root.

"Who's?" Kakashi stared at Raiji as she wrapped Sasuke's hand in bandage. The Copy Ninja had been more concerned with her arm, but Raiji had waved his off, grabbing his medic kit and pulling a red Sasuke infront of her.

'She hasn't changed a bit, she stills babies him. And she still refuses help... maybe not so much, she's getting help from whoever gave her that eye.' Kakashi's hands went to his hitai-ate, pulling it off his head as he pushed the mask down around his neck. "Same girly features, Kaka."

"I'll say this one more time, who's eye is it?" Raiji offered his a small smile, laying her head on Sasuke's shoulder as she wrapped her legs around his waist. "Obito."

It was whispered, and Kakashi had barely caught it. "Obito gave me his other eye, Kaka, he wanted us to be able to fill in for him as part of the clan. He gave you more than one gift, Kakashi. He gave you the chance to see things through his eyes. Through his Sharigan.

He knew I was born with the Shiaka, they run in the bloodline of the Chyachi, afterall, and he knew about Itachi and I. He understood that for me to be accepted in the Uchiha, where I was shunned by the Chyachi, I would need more than Itachi. I never agreed to have it implanted, Rin ambushed me on my fourteenth birthday and took me to the doctor. Next thing I knew she had Obito's other eye out of the jar and in my face.

I didn't even get a choice of which eye I got to keep, she took out the eye I was nearly blind in and gave me Obito's." Kakashi stared at her, eyes wide. Sasuke hand fisted his hands in the battered material of Raiji's pants, eyes wide as he listened to something he should have never learned.

Raiji lifted her head, her arms wrapping around Sasuke. "Is it ok if we stay here tonight, Kaka? I've still got to go apartment searching in the morning."

"It's fine. But why ... you were only four when Obito died, how...?" Raiji brought her finger to her lips. "That's for us to know."

"Raiji, you could--" Sasuke was cut off by Raiji's finger, a small smile on her lips. "Sas, you're old enough to live on your own. Besides, do you have any idea what they'd do to me if they found out that I, an S-Ranking missing-nin, was living with a minor that I don't have custody over? That's a one way ticket to being banned out of the villages, Sas."

Sasuke smiled slightly, leaning his head against her neck. Kakashi watched, remembering exactly how it used to be before Itachi had murdered his clan, and before Raiji had started being abused by her brother.

'Our families were always messed up, weren't we?'

Sasuke pulled his shirt over his head, relieved to have the heavy material off of his body. Looking in the mirror, he couldn't help but realize how much he resembled his brother.

"You still have that choker? I figured you would have tossed it away after Itachi and I left." Sasuke smiled to himself, looking over at Raiji reflection. She was barely a head over him in height, unnaturally small due to a premature birth. She looked at him lazily with the shiaka, the red iris burning into him and freezing him in the same moment.

Around her neck was a choker identical to Itachi's, and one identical to hers was around Sasuke's.

"You can never change who you are, no matter how much you want to." Sasuke said, repeating the very words he'd heard her preaching when he was four. "We made a blood pact, remember?"

"Yes. We made a blood pact, we promised that we would always be together. Hm, so much for that promise. If Ita's not already dead, I'll kill him for leaving for not even bothering to send a letter or something. Not one thing in the past four years!" Raiji said, smiling softly at Sasuke. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pressing a kiss to his jaw as she watched his reflection.

"Yami no oku de itsu made mo

Kurenai yureru nokoribi ni you ni

Yoroi matou kokoro ni mo

Kusubutta omoi wa kiezu" Raiji murmured, tracing the lines of Sasuke's stomach. He shivered slightly in her arms, and Raiji sighed.

"You miss him, don't you?" Sasuke asked, and Raiji pulled away. "Yeah, I keep remembering how jealous he got whenever I started babying you, or hanging on Kakashi."

Raiji smiled, pressing a kiss to Sasuke's cheek. "Get a shower and go to bed, you've still got training tomorrow."

Sasuke nodded, watching her reflection as she left.

Kakashi sat infront of the memorial, tracing over the names. He felt a leak of chakra behind him, turning to see Raiji.

"You always come here before going to your team?" Raiji asked, paying her respects as well. Kakashi looked at her as she kneeled next to him. Kakashi reached over, pulling her off balance and kissing her cheek through his mask.

"Itachi's not here, Raiji, you know he isn't going to come back for you." Raiji looked at him, punching him in the stomach roughly." He promised. He promised both I and Sasuke that no matter what, he'd came back. I kept my promise, and I'm the unreliable one, Hatake. So I know that Itachi is going to come back."

Raiji stood, sending a quick kick to the back of Kakashi's head. He grabbed her leg, flipping her onto her back. She growled, glaring up at him as he stood.

Flipping herself backward on her shoulder, Raiji stood to her full height of five foot, eyes narrow. Kakashi looked lazily down at her down at her through one eye.

"Same rules as when we were kids, Bakashi. No groping, other than that-"

"Anything goes." Kakashi finished, pulling his hitai-ate into it's right place over his forehead, two mismatched eyes that mirrored Raiji's stared back at her.

'Anything goes..' She grinned, her arms going lax by her sides. 'This is gunna be fun. Let's see how much you've improved, Kaka-Baka.'

Kakashi made the first move, making a punch for her head. Raiji dodged, crouching down and swiping her leg out, knocking Kakashi off his feet. Kakashi grabbed the waistband of her pants, dragging her down with him. Rolling away from Kakashi, Raiji moved for the bag she'd dropped by the memorial.

She pulled out a folded shuriken, resembling the Demon Wind Shuriken, only larger. Kakashi grinned, getting to his feet.

"Shadow Shuriken, would've thought you'd stopped carrying those around after they were banned." Raiji shrugged, unfolding the weapon. "Thought wrong then, Kakashi."

With that, Raiji flung it at him, catching him in the arm with one of the blades. Kakashi winced, watching as it came back to her, slicing open his other arm on the return trip.

'Poison takes ten minutes to take effect, maybe we can have this fight over in five and get him to Tsunade in time...' Raiji bit her lip, dropping her weapon and sending a kunai towards the older Jonin. Kakashi caught it between his fingers, running to her and trying to stab her in the shoulder. Raiji blocked, causing him to imbed the knife in her forearm instead.

Taking the kunai, Raiji grinned. She kicked him in the stomach, pushing him back a few paces. They stood like that for a moment, Kakashi trying to gather chakra into his hands.

"Remember, chakra causes the poison to speed up. A double dosage, you only had five minutes." And Kakashi seemed to remember this too, looking at his arms in terror as the exposed skin turned blue, dehydrated... Raiji raced forward, sending a quick hit to his neck and knocking him out.