Hello and welcome to my first fanfiction! This has been sitting in my head for years now and has evolved accordingly as I grew up. As such, it will contain a whole lot of medical jargon, since that's what I'm studying, world-building especially in regards of scientifical advances, and is completely self-serving. I might change characters, ignore some canon, go AU, who knows... possibilities are endless here. Since English isn't my first language, please excuse any spelling errors, I will fix them when I have time to reread the chapter.Now on to the story and hope you enjoy!_

I wasn't sure what to expect of this village the first time I sat foot inside, brought in by the ANBU team who'd found me in that damned forest in Iron Country, half-frozen to death and ravenous as the fauna I had been pointlessly trying to hunt.

I had been roaming those woods for what could have been weeks or months, for all I cared, stuck in a weird sense of limbo after running away from my home. After the outburst that took out my parents I didn't have any other accidents, even though a few would have been welcomed the few times I got close to the regional wildlife. But alas, up to that point my abilities had always showed only when it suited them.

And that was partly the reason why I was here now.

The team that found me comprised of four men, ranging from kids to adults, all wearing masks, all clad in the kind of armour that screamed ninja to any civilian with eyes to see. It was easy to tell they were elite, after all, they had managed to track me at the literal edge of the world.

It took more than two weeks to reach the village, walking mostly on foot and stopping often to feed and care for me, since frostbite and malnutrition had hindered any kind of attempt at prolonged travel on my side.

On one of those stops I managed to gives us all a scare when, hearing the sound of a wolf howling in the distance, I started sprouting roots and wood spears at random out of the frozen ground. It took them a while to calm me down after that, especially since I kept freaking out over the wooden stumps extending from my elbows down, where before it had been smooth, fleshy skin.

One of them, Tenzo, I learned in time, disposed of my creation and walked me through some exercises to subside my hyperventilation. I felt then the wood slowly chipping away with resounding creaks, revealing my hands underneath. Another one then crouched in front of me and got started on healing the bloody patches where the wood had ripped off with a layer of my skin attached. The green glow of it was fascinating, along with the warm feeling spreading from it. I was getting the feeling he was generally a warm, laidback kind of person, trying a couple of time to blow my anxiety away with a few jokes. That long needle dangling from his mouth was also interesting to watch, and combined with that, his presence had indeed the desired effect on me.

The last two should probably be the most noteworthy, since the silver-haired one extended me the invitation, and the black haired one convinced me to accept it. Kakashi Hatake, whom even at my age I'd heard whispers of back home, and Itachi Uchiha, whose words would influence my decisions for a long time.

That said, after having endured the militaristic indoctrination in the samurai ranks up to the age of seven, having finally rebelled against the oppression of my abilities by my parents and subsequently fleeding the household where I had impaled them, I was reluctant when out of no where I was given a second chance. And by the people my family hated the most, using a power they never could possess, in a village full of mercenaries, under the rule of a military dictator renowned in the whole wide world.

But, as I entered Konoha for the first time, surrounded by Kakashi, Tenzo, Genma and Itachi, feeling all the life radiating from every green corner, I couldn't help but think that here at least, in spite of everything that would come, I stood a chance to fight.