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The Archangel of the Hidden Leaf

Chapter 14:

Source of Power

Yamato, who laid on his side in the warming morning sun, felt his body awaken. Light penetrated his closed eyelids. Before he moved, he realized that the draining sensation from low chakra reserves from the previous evening was alleviated. A full night's rest really did the trick. To make it better, his back no longer ached, but that might return rather quickly since Naruto's training was still underway.

Sitting up, he scratched the back of his head. "Ready for another long day?" Kakashi questioned while he sat on his wooden couch with Make-Out Tactics in his grasp.

"As ready as I'll ever be," he replied, getting up to fold his temporary bedding. While on his knees, pressing the blanket into the grass to do it neatly, he gazed over at his twisted wooden structure jutting from the ground in the form of a cage. The last time Yamato saw it, Dolia was inside it, but now it was empty. Broken and sliced twigs laid to the side with a visible hole just big enough to fit a body through it. Realizing that Naruto was missing, too, made Yamato look to Kakashi.

"Where…?" he trailed, thinking he figured out the mystery when he put two and two together.

"Up there," Kakashi answered without looking away from the vertical sentences.

Yamato paused and glanced up at the huge branch spanning across the upgraded waterfall. A long line of shadow clones was absent, but he could differentiate two bodies. Then he fathomed the position of the sun in the sky. "How long was I asleep?" he asked, dumbfounded.

"Don't worry about it. Naruto needed a break anyway."

"He slept all night, though."

"I doubt that's true. His pants and hair were damp when he got up earlier, so I have a feeling he was training during the night."

Yamato groaned. Training without his stabilization was dangerous. What if the Nine-Tails' chakra unleashed? He would have been unable to stop the rampage.

"Well," Kakashi continued, "considering everything is fine, it's a good sign for the Nine-Tails' seal being secure."

That was true, Yamato had to admit, but it was still a risk not worth taking!

Upon the branch, Naruto sat next to Dolia as water droplets sprayed them. Ever since she suggested a better way to cut the waterfall, she was trying to figure out how such a thing was even possible. The jinchuriki had a hard time explaining chakra and how it worked. After all, he did not study while in the Ninja Academy. "Let me start over," he offered, questioning his knowledge. "Chakra is this stuff in your body that gives you power and life."

Dolia, with her knees tucked into her chest, listened intently but failed to really understand. She wanted to desperately know how things like the branch they sat on were formed. The logic of it, however, was completely foreign to her.

"Chakra can be manipulated with hand signs to perform jutsus," he continued. "You can do it, too. You just don't know how."

"…Can you show me how?" she sheepishly asked, genuinely curious.

"Sure!" he agreed, instantly knowing what jutsu for her to try. "Watch me and try to copy." He held up a hand sign, positioning his fingers specifically.

Observing it, Dolia crossed her legs to free her hands and tried to replicate what was shown. The feeling of her fingers being shaped awkwardly made her question her technique, but when Naruto switched the hand sign, she quickly transitioned her own into the new one. After a third hand sign, Dolia felt a surge within her entire body, making her gasp. The only other time she felt a surge like that was when she transformed. Was she involuntarily turning into a monster again?

But a mass of smoke burst next to her and also next to Naruto. It made her jump from being startled, but Naruto stayed calm. When the smoke dispersed, Dolia saw a clone of Naruto standing next to him. It was a mirror image of himself, from the positioning of his headband to the dampness in his clothes. The clone next to Dolia was a disappointment in comparison. It laid down with a sickly tone to its unmoving body and had no indication of life inside it.

Naruto chuckled. The sight reminded him of his failed attempts at the shadow clone jutsu in front of Iruka Sensei as a kid. He was long past that time in his life, but Dolia was in the thick of novice. "Pretty decent for your first jutsu," he complimented. "How about this, if I can cut the waterfall today, I'll properly teach you how to properly use chakra. It's only fair since you gave me good advice."

"Soon your clones will be strong and healthy like me," his clone assured her with a thumb pointing at himself.

She looked back at her pitiful clone, watching it explode back into a cloud of smoke and disappear from existence. It was neat to know that she had abilities like the new people in her life did, but now that the jutsu was complete, she was feeling a wave of lethargy. If she felt it after making just one clone, then how was it possible for Naruto to make multiple and use chakra to cut the waterfall?

The air shifted in front of them both. In the blink of an eye, Kakashi was present. He had seen the puffs of smoke and got a feeling that it was time to end Naruto's break for now. "Why are you teaching her jutsus, Naruto?" he questioned the blonde with the hint of a sigh in his voice.

"Oh…Am I not supposed to?"

"She's technically a prisoner, so doing it could instill an incentive to escape."

"Dolia wouldn't run away from us!" Naruto protested. "You said last night that someone might be looking for her, so staying with us is her best option."

Dolia dropped her gaze. What Naruto recalled from their dinner around the campfire was true. Although she was unsure who exactly could be out looking for her, she feared it was the father of her deceased children. She only encountered him three times in her life, and each time brought terrified tremors to her body. Outside of the dome, she had no idea where he was or what he was doing. A part of her wondered if it was not him looking for her, but her mother. What if abandoning her was a terrible mistake and she was wanting to find her to make amends? Dolia had mixed feelings about that. She cared for the woman who kept her fed, but at the same time, she should have cared about her enough to help her escape or not abandon her.

So, if Dolia had a choice, she did not see the point in running away. Outside the Leaf Village was an unknown. Inside the Leaf Village was safe with the people surrounding her currently.

Kakashi bent over to gather Dolia in his arms. One wrapped around her back and the other supported the bottoms of her legs. She did not protest, even though the contact gave her unpleasant memories of the two traumatizing experiences. When he stood up straight, he could fully feel how lightweight she was. "I don't mind her learning how to control her transformation, but anything else, I don't think is a good idea," Kakashi wagered.

Naruto gave his sensei a dubious look. "I don't know, Sensei. Worst case scenario, she may need a Shadow Clone to escape from whoever's looking for her."

Kakashi suppressed a sigh. Naruto was persistent, but he did have a good point. "Let's just continue with your training for now. Yamato is ready to go now." Before he could reply, Kakashi hopped off the branch. Dolia felt the wind rush through her hair, lifting the strands, and then suddenly drop from gravity when he landed without a jolt or thud. Instead of putting her down, he began walking back to the tree to repeat yesterday.

Not wanting to do that, she looked up at his masked face. "Wait," she voiced breathily.

He kept walking but turned his attention to her, stepping off the moving water and onto still grass. "Hm?"

"How can I learn to control myself?"

Kakashi did not hear the conversation between her and Naruto, so he did not think she knew anything about chakra. Finding a way to explain how would be tricky. "Usually, it takes practice and discipline for jutsus like the Shadow Clone Jutsu, but what you have is called a kekkei genkai, so it should come more natural to control."

"Do I have to use chakra for it, too?" she asked as he placed her on the couch instead of in the tree. "Making a clone felt the same as transforming."

He stood up straight and put his hands in his pockets, impressed by her evaluation. "You do. Since you know what chakra feels like, the next step is controlling it."

Dolia felt like she was stepping out of line, but at the same time, she wanted to feel like she was safe to be around. The only other time in her life she truly was safe was when she was by herself in the hole and disconnected from the outside world. Right now, that was not an option; she had no choice but to be in the vicinity of people. So, she made the request: "Can you teach me how?"

He might be doing something dangerous by taking up the opportunity, but she did not come across as someone who would hurt others if she had the choice. Giving her proper training would possibly prevent future incidents.

Kakashi reached for his headband and slide it upwards to uncover his scarred eye. The compelling red iris of the Sharingan looked at her for the first time. Although it was not naturally his, it was still a kekkei genkai, and it would guide this training.

Deep within Orochimaru's hideout, the Snake Sage sat in his throne as he had the previous day. Akuma was gone, but he did not leave his mind. It was not normal to have followers visit when they were supposed to remain at assigned posts. There was the claim that he wanted to retrieve the lost girl to please him, but he wondered if it was something more.

The whole point of the breeding experiment was to harvest her clan's body parts. Any children birthed would be taken. When her father refused to participate, his body parts were extracted, and he was later disposed of. It was a shame to narrow the gene pool further by only leaving his daughter to continue. When he heard of two failed breeding products, he terminated the experiment and ordered the girl to be transported for other uses, but she was left to die? Hearing it saddened him, strangely. Forcibly breeding her was painful, but he did not mistreat his specimens.

Karin Uzumaki entered his train of thought. Once a refugee in the Hidden Grass Village, she was forced to heal the wounded by sharing chakra through biting. Orochimaru saved her from the cruel fate by taking her under his wing and giving her a new purpose as one of his subordinates. For the faceless girl, he would have done something similar, not left her to die.

Akuma may or may not have known that about him. Bringing someone like her back to him was something he insisted on doing. With that being said, he could not help but wonder if there was a motive behind it. After all, he was the father of the deceased offspring. Was it residual feelings that he still carried with him? Was it a desire to be closer to his master? So many mysteries…

Sasuke Uchiha, his student who Akuma eyed closely during his visit, stood silently beside him once more. Knowing that a trip to the Hidden Leaf was underway for him had piqued his interest briefly, but it left his mind soon after hearing about it. Orochimaru began to think about the loyalty he had compared to Akuma, but more so about the curse mark transformation he possessed. He did not know it, but it was very similar to that of the kekkei genkai of the Tenshi Clan. An idea formed for him.

"Sasuke," he said, leaning onto the arm of his throne with his elbow. "I think I want to send you on a mission."

The sole survivor of the Uchiha Clan massacre stayed quiet but listened.

"Surely you remember our visitor Akuma from yesterday? I've been thinking about where he's going and who he's going after. I think you two would get along."

"He is going to the Hidden Leaf," Sasuke stated, recalling the recent encounter with Naruto, Sakura, and other shinobi he did not know. "They want to capture me. Why should I give them a chance?"

"I doubt they would get close. Last time was an ambush. If Akuma is planning on attacking, the tables will be turned against them. But that is not why I want you to join him. I simply want you to make sure that the faceless girl gets returned safely."

With the objective given to him, Sasuke stepped forward to leave. "Very well."

Kakashi sat in the grass with Dolia face to face. She could not take her gaze away from the single red eye that he had kept hidden until now. Since he always covered it, she assumed that he could not see out of it. There was a scar present, indicating that he was once wounded, but how did he get such an anomaly?

"You have a bloodline limit, known as a kekkei genkai," he explained again. Knowing she was focusing her attention on his Sharingan, he pointed to it. "This is a Sharingan. It is the kekkei genkai of the Uchiha Clan. I may not be a descendent of the clan, but I still use it and have learned many of its secrets. That means that I can teach you how to use chakra to control your transformation."

She nodded.

"What have you felt when you lost control of your transformation in the past?"

Thinking, she tried to recall times when she felt the surge within herself. There were times when it hit her so hard that it gave her a searing headache. Back in the forest when she was running away from the men in black cloaks, she had the biggest surge of chakra in her life purely because she was smelling prey. In the hole, starving and alone, she went into frenzies when eating animals alive. Chakra was heavily stimulated in those situations.

"A rush…and a headache," she answered.

"That's probably the feeling of chakra moving to your face, but chakra moves all throughout your body all the time. It is connected to every cell in your body. Go ahead and transform so you can grasp how chakra moves."

Obeying, she easily transformed, unaware that she was moving the chakra herself. The sensation of the surge returned to her skull, and her eyes rolled back and teeth emerged in response. Kakashi's Sharingan was magnified for her to the point that she could see the three black markings in the red iris, each positioned as if they were the points of an equilateral triangle. It was such a beautiful sight to her.

"Very good. You have successfully controlled chakra," he praised, curving his lips upwards underneath his mask.

So no more accidents, he added to himself.

Dolia released her transformation so it could retract. With it, the surge alleviated. She relished in the feeling but also was stunned that it was so easy. Of course, Kakashi did say that having a kekkei genkai meant that controlling its abilities would come naturally. In fact, she could control her transformation already. She just did not understand the science behind it.

"If you were my student like Naruto, I would have you start climbing trees now using chakra control, but–"

The deafening roar of the waterfall behind them suddenly ended with a massive splash. Both of them turned their heads to see how the curtain was cut short where Naruto's line of Shadow Clones stood, exposing the vertical earth that was hidden. Not a single clone was failing to stop the flow of the water.

Naruto! You did it! Dolia celebrated with an amazed smile on her blank face.

Naruto stood still in shock, feeling the chakra in his palms push farther than before straight into the earth. He followed Dolia's advice and tried to stretch his aim through the surface of the water and to the solid wall on the other side so that the wind nature had something to grind against. It took only a few minutes of shooting blindly in the dark before he finally, after a solid week of training, could get the job done.

Exuberant, Naruto's original copy of himself pulled his hands away from the waterfall and turned to look down at Yamato and Kakashi. "Alright!" he cheered. The other clones followed suit and let go of the waterfall so it could continue its flow and resume its deafening roar, joining in with excited cheers that were filled with relief that the tough leg of training was over.

When the clones dispersed, Yamato relaxed his uncomfortable stance with a tired exhalation. "Well done," Kakashi praised, getting up from the ground and covering his eye back up. "Now we can start the development of your new original jutsu."

Naruto fell to his knees as a wave of exhaustion came over him. The use of chakra for hours on end, after training all day and night, was catching up to him. But in the middle of his pants, he gazed over the side of the branch down at the faceless girl who helped him figure out the trick that was holding him back. "Thank you…Dolia."

Now it's my turn to teach you some tricks.