Twilight River

Chapter 5

Break

My sixth birthday came a few months after the Chunin Exams. It was an unusually snowy winter all year that year with the snow beginning in December and continuing onwards. There was a constant flux of the attendance in the academy depending on who caught pneumonia that week and had to be on watch in the hospital. I was especially sturdy compared to the others and didn't catch it once.

Shisui-senpai and Itachi had small plans for my birthday that I was unaware of. My birthday fell on a day I didn't have classes and both Itachi and Shisui-senpai didn't have missions. We met at our usual spot that day and I was presented with gifts.

I stared at the offending book Itachi was holding out to me and he said, "This is for your birthday."

I took it in my mittened hands and struggled to flip it open. It was a nice and rather thick leather bound journal. Shisui-senpai gave me a few seconds to enjoy my new journal before he held out his gift. Unlike Itachi's, his was wrapped daintily and was actually smaller. I put the journal in my bag and pulled off my mittens to open the box. I undid the wrapping paper neatly, which Shisui-senpai complained was the wrong way to open a gift, and I lifted the top up.

Inside the long box was a long stick that I thought was a lone chopstick at first. Then I realized it was a long silver hair pin that dangled bells at the end. I lifted it out and oohed. The bells swung and let out a gentle chime that sounded more like whispering than a bell.

Shisui-senpai grinned and explained, "Your hair looked really nice from the exam's festival and I saw this and thought this would look great on you!"

I honestly had to think back and remember what Izumi's mom did to my hair. I did recall her putting in a long pin with a dangling ornament that looked like flowers.

Itachi observed, "It's excellent quality."

I narrowed my eyes at Shisui-senpai and he threw his hands up quickly, "No, it wasn't too expensive! Besides, I am paid well for jounin missions and I don't have anything to do with it."

"Save for when you have a family, or need to pay rent." Itachi preached and I continued to twist the hair pin in my hands. My hair was getting longer, having surpassed Itachi's ponytail a month or two ago. I twisted my hair up into a bastardized bun and stuck the pin through. I felt half of it fall out but Shisui-senpai gave me a lopsided grin as he blocked out Itachi's words of wisdom.

"Looks great!" he praised. Itachi stopped for a moment to agree, "Yes it does look very nice on you."

I smiled, "I'll start wearing it then."

"It's really sturdy so don't be afraid of breaking it." Shisui-senpai told me.

When Izumi saw me in the academy she gave me a lovely hand knit scarf that was a bright blue-purple that she explained she tried to match to my eyes. I wore that everyday that winter, along with my new hair pin. I also, when I saw Mikoto for my occasional visits, was given a picture of my mother. She was prettier than I remembered as a baby. Her hair was a deeper red than mine and her eyes more green-blue than purple-blue like I thought. I looked a lot like her with my round, oval eyes and long eyelashes. My face was still trying to shape itself but while my face was round and cute like hers, I was also developing higher cheekbones.

The funny thing about visiting Mikoto was that she deflected any and all questions about my mother in such a way that I truly went there the next time thinking she would actually tell me about her. I didn't mind because Mikoto was giving me valuable skills such as how to perform a tea ceremony, be a good hostess, and other things that would fit perfectly in kunoichi class. Speaking of that, I was intimidated because third year was sex talk year. Spooky.

.

The academic year ended rather quickly and I used my month off to practice everything I learned that year. Shisui-senpai and Itachi made sure my taijutsu didn't slip while also continuing to grow my awareness. As an incoming third year I would finally learn how to apply chakra in jutsu and not just theory and exercises. I was very excited and the break went by very quickly.

I was bumped up to 3-A from 2-B for my third year and was proud that I had vastly improved enough to be in the class that was mostly full of the expected successes. The classes would be broken out of the model as we got older and the teachers learned who to expect the best out of but it was genuinely great being in the higher tier of class. The only sad part was Goro-sensei was not my teacher again.

Chakra was a major focus that was given an entire bloc in our schedules. Instead of spending half the day in studies and half in training, we now spent only a quarter of the day in studies, and an odd balance of training and working on our chakra. They introduced us to the henge technique first. Then the clone. And then we learned the kawarimi technique last. We had the basics of the three down by the end of the first semester.

Most students could henge rather alright by then. I was simply alright at these techniques. My control wasn't as good as the others which led to strange things such as hair far wilder than what I was aiming for, or strange distortion to clothes or limbs. My clones had similar issues and we were told not to practice the kawarimi without supervision as most of us were terrible. Substituting your body with chakra was an awkward sensation unless I took my small body and exchanged it for like, a trashcan my size. The logs they wanted us to learn on were the sizes of most of the students torsos which made it a little difficult.

Summer break was spent with Shisui-senpai mostly gone on missions. Itachi and I were quiet together and we both clearly missed having him around. I worked with Itachi on the academy three but progress was admittedly very slow without Shisui-senpai. Towards the end of the summer Itachi started to get busy too so I was often left on my own. Some days I went back to the library to try reading fuinjutsu books again with my always improving literacy but that was also a bust.

When I returned to school I was bursting with energy. I felt like nothing could exhaust me enough. My nights started getting longer as I spent time training after the library. I stopped seeing Shisui-senpai and Itachi often. Itachi checked in frequently, telling me about his genin team and how their sensei was training them harder to take the Chunin Exams next year sometime. He apologized for being so busy often. Shisui-senpai was a ghost. He would step into my life maybe once every few weeks and buy me a popsicle before leaving again.

It was lonely.

Izumi and I spent time together but she was also busy. She wanted to graduate a year early so she was focusing on her studies and gradually I felt lonelier. It was strange at first because I had spent almost every day with Shisui-senpai and Itachi for about two years. But I retreated back to my own studies, like I had been before I met them. Loneliness was something I had found in both of my lives, it seemed.

.

The night that changed everything was at the end of August. It was no different from any other night and was actually perfect. The temperature was nice and moderate and there was no mugginess or fog. I was more so strolling back to the orphanage than walking. I was enjoying the night.

I felt a prickle on the back of my neck. It was the kind of feeling that sent shivers down your spine and made your hair stand up. It was a terrifying experience because I thought my body was just going to lock up when this foreboding, choking feeling came over me. I was on a side street with high fences and nowhere to escape to. There was a single streetlight casting long shadows and I was directly under this street light when one of the shadows moved.

He stepped into the edge of the light. An animal mask covered his face and generic armor plates covered him. A tanto was visible from over his shoulder and I had the uneasy feeling that something was about to go horribly wrong. I turned around, intending to speed-walk my way out of there. But another man with a different animal mask stepped into the light.

I tensed. I knew these men were ANBU. But I doubted any good ANBU would be using such a scare tactic on a young academy student. I suspected, and I was sure I was right, that these ANBU belonged to Danzo. Danzo I knew had a thing for orphans, but was I the kind of orphan who wouldn't be missed? I swallowed nervously and looked between the ANBU and wondered if I could scramble over the fence in time.

"Uzumaki Miyako," a gravelly and ambiguous voice came from the first ANBU, "Elder Shimura requests your presence."

I looked at him and in a small voice, murmured, "I've been told not to go with strangers."

The ANBU stepped forward as if to grab me and I tried to go over the fence. A hand snatched the back of my collar and I choked as I was flung backwards. I struggled and anxiety and fear bubbled up. I tried to kick and bite, I became something like a feral animal. I hissed and spit before I started screaming, "SOMEONE HELP! HELP ME! HELP-"

A gloved hand reached over my mouth and muffled my screams. The other ANBU stepped forward with a cloth in his hand. I struggled harder. I didn't want this. I wanted to have fun. I didn't want to be a part of ROOT or deal with Danzo in any way. This wasn't fair!

This was supposed to be a better life!

My ears started to ring and my spine arched backwards. A scream echoed out of my throat through the hand over my mouth and my vision shifted colors. I saw white for a moment and then a blue haze took over everything. The ANBU dropped me and I landed on my knees. I brought my hands over my head and my throat felt raw. After a few seconds the ringing stopped and there was the unsettling sound of something ripping. A wet liquid splattered onto my back and when there was no longer any noise but the sound of the cicadas in the distance, I looked up.

There was a massacre surrounding me. Something had ripped both the ANBU into chunks and gore surrounded me. It was splattered on the walls, on me, on the ground. For a few moments I was in disbelief. The blue glow was still there, reflecting off the blood and surrounding me. I looked up and my mouth, dry, dropped open. These ethereal chains floated above me, circling above me and occasionally lashing around. They were a deep dark blue, giving off a pure blue glow.

The ringing came back and my vision started to speckle with colorful dots. I grabbed my head, yelling and moaning. Someone landed in front of me and they were yelling my name. Arms wrapped around me and my body convulsed. The ringing was getting louder, I was probably screaming louder. The arms around me were warm, they weren't something to harm me.

And then I fainted, falling into a cold dark abyss filled with blue chains and animal masks.

.

When I came to, I promptly rolled to my side and puked violently. Someone said something about me being a trooper, but I couldn't really tell. When I was done heaving, I pushed myself to my knees and took in where I was. The office was familiar, but not to this life. Had the colors been saturated and the objects flat, then I would have known it. Instead I was in the real Hokage's office and not the fake animated one.

The Hokage himself looked at me from across the desk. He looked much older than I remembered him looking a few short years prior and his eyes were closed off. His face was sagged into a sad but firm expression.

"How do you feel, Miyako-chan?" a medic to my side questioned.

I groaned a bit, and managed a weak, "Terrible."

"The feeling should go away soon." the medic murmured, "You just experienced extreme sensory overload."

"Sounds right." I plopped onto my butt and pulled my legs into a comfortable butterfly stretch.

The room had an awkward atmosphere. It was a few minutes before the Hokage said something else.

"Do you remember what happened?" It was a simple question. What had happened? I remembered everything, although my perspective hadn't been quite the best. I could relay what I saw but I was unsure of what actually happened.

I told the Hokage what I remembered. Sarutobi-sama listened carefully and I didn't lie. I did leave out knowing that these ANBU were from ROOT, but I added that I just knew something wasn't right. The way they acted and carried themselves made me think something was off. And it was true, technically.

The Hokage sounded weary when I finished speaking. He lit his pipe and took a few minutes to relax with that.

Finally, he murmured, "I'm sorry things had to happen this way, Miyako-chan. You will not be able to go back to a normal life, now."

"Why not?" I demanded, quietly. I didn't see any reason I couldn't if he told Danzo to fuck off.

"You were the one who killed those two ANBU operatives." he said gravely. I didn't process that very quickly.

"What?" I gasped, a delayed few seconds later.

"Those blue chains were yours. They were Uzumaki chakra chains." the Hokage, rather bluntly, informed me.

I took a few moments to process this new information, "I... I was the one who killed them?"

"Unknowingly, I'm sure." the medic butted in, "Your chakra likely reacted to your emotions."

"I didn't want to kill them!" I protested, "I just wanted them to leave me alone!"

"They won't be bothering you again, Miyako-chan. However you will need to learn to control your chains." the Hokage announced. He exhaled and smoke breathed out in front of him. I looked at him, feeling incredibly lost. I thought I was going to cry, "There is also the issue of you killing those operatives."

"I didn't mean to." I insisted, sniffling.

"I know you didn't. And this isn't a punishment, but a way to protect you." the Hokage softly told me, "As of today, you will be an ANBU trainee."

"A what." I imagine I looked like I got punched in the gut and was trying to get air back into my lungs.

The Hokage closed his eyes, "I've determined the best way to protect you is to train you as an ANBU operative. As of now I have already spoken to the operative who will be your trainer. He will be training you for both heavy assault and assassination."

I started to cry big, fat tears. I was silent though as tears spilled out. I choked, "I don't have a choice?"

"As for now, no, I'm sorry Miyako-chan. Later in life should you choose to change divisions then you may. But for now you will be mostly trained for assassination. ANBU are rarely sent on missions requiring heavy assault, but you will still be prepared for that." the Hokage sounded more stressed than sorry. In fact, he didn't sound sorry at all.

I sobbed for a few moments. I was upset, to say the least. I avoided Danzo but I was still stuck somewhere I didn't want to be. This was supposed to be a fun life. I was going to graduate the academy, get a fun team under a jonin, and continue to see my friends.

This life was supposed to be better, and yet, here I was. The rug pulled out from underneath my feet. How hard would I hit the ground?

"How... how does this work?" I sounded more so like I was dying than anything else.

The Hokage sighed, "You will disappear from the public. You will live in the ANBU barracks, training as long as your trainer requires you to. When your trainer decides you are finished, you will be given a hitai-ate and officially be instated as a genin. However you will still be on call for ANBU missions once we have determined you fit for them, and you will also have ANBU training to further your ability."

And I mourned for my second life being taken out of my hands.

.

The Hokage let me cry in his office for an hour before an ANBU dropped from the ceiling. ANBU are all ambiguous in gender but this one, not wearing a hood and displaying short, dark grey hair, will be referred to as a man. His voice also sounded deeper even with the mask muffling his voice.

"Miyako-chan, this is Dog. He will be your mentor for the next few months." the Hokage told me. I looked up and glared at him. In my stages of grief, I was rather angry.

"I don't like you." I told him bluntly.

The Hokage almost laughed despite the room's atmosphere and the ANBU tilted his head, "You don't need to like me."

"Then I resent you." I huffed, sliding off the couch I had buried myself into.

Dog looked at the Hokage and I had the feeling he was trying to convey his displeasure.

I stood in front of Dog and we examined each other. He was much taller than me, as adults usually were, and his mask was canine shaped with pointed ears. Black and red marks dipped around his eyes and two hugged each side of the mask. I thought it looked more like a cat mask than a dog one.

Dog said, "You're young."

"Her circumstances are special." the Hokage mentioned.

"ANBU are supposed to be thirteen, not five." grumbled Dog, sounding grumpy and displeased.

The Hokage took his pipe out of the corner of his mouth, "She can use Uzumaki chakra chains."

I narrowed my eyes at the Hokage, "You said you spoke to him already."

He kind of shrugged, "I told him he was getting an apprentice."

Dog appraised me for a few more moments. Then he sighed.

"Let's move then, brat."

"My name is Miyako, not brat." I growled.

"Move."

Dog picked me up and jumped up through an illusionary ceiling tile. Another ANBU was sitting there crouched. Dog nodded to them and we crawled through the duct before dropping down a shaft. Dog caught me before I splattered on the floor and then he dropped me on my ass.

"This is the bunker. The main concentration is under the Hokage's tower and extends to the hospital. Otherwise there are various tunnels throughout the village that ANBU use to move around undetected. There are several training rooms and barracks down here."

Then he started walking. I hurried after him and he led me to what appeared to be a storage room for armor. Boxes sat on shelves that contained various white ceramic masks.

"Pick an animal." grumbled Dog and I shifted through the boxes before finding a more menacing canine mask. This one was sharper than Dog's mask with more angular indents and the ears being wider. I held that one up and Dog took it from me. He popped the lid off two cans of paint and dipped a brush into the black paint. He looked at me briefly before painting red around the mouth and bottom. He did a smear of it across the middle of the mask and then switched to black paint. He made two fangs that came out of the snout and gave what was effectively cat-eye eyeliner on the top of its eye holes. He drew two slanted lines, possibly for eyebrows, and then handed the mask to me.

"Wolf." he stated, "That is your codename now. ANBU are free to tell whoever they choose about their identities, but it is discouraged heavily."

I held the mask in my hands to look at it. Considering how small I was, it was a rather fierce looking mask that he had made. I asked, "Why did you paint it?"

"Usually a trainee's trainer, sponsor or captain will design the mask of their choosing. It is to honor them." Dog explained vaguely. I fit the mask on over my head and was surprised how easily I could see out. The eye holes were larger than you would expect and were formed to shadow the eyes and hide them. There was also a thin layer of something transparent in the holes but I didn't have time to examine because Dog was moving again.

I followed on his heels until we reached another room where he spent ages trying to find ANBU standard armor that would fit me. The armor he did eventually hand me was still very large but he grumbled that I was supposed to be too young to be an ANBU during peace time. After he made sure I could move around in the armor he led me to the barracks and showed me which bed was mine. I shoved my clothes into the pillow that was mine and then he led me to another storage room. This one though had another ANBU who regarded me with a tsk.

"This recruit is rather small, Dog. Too small to be of age." the ANBU hummed, looking down at me. Their mask was a bit awkwardly shaped but I determined It was supposed to be something like a horse or a deer or a moose. Their mask was softly painted with thin blue lines around its features. Also not wearing a hood, this person's hair was long and a color that I would call sunburnt orange.

Dog shrugged in response and the ANBU had me take a seat on a crate. They pulled out a needle and apologized for a second before I felt her poke into my upper left bicep. There was an awkward sensation and I looked over to see her painting a seal onto my arm. She finished quickly and there was a brief moment where my entire chakra system felt a foreign pulse and Dog was suddenly holding me down.

I was yelling, my legs kicking wildly as the ANBU continued with whatever she was doing. She apologized when she was done and Dog let me go when I stopped struggling. I felt sweat on my brow but couldn't wipe it away because of the mask. I looked at my bicep, not willing to touch it, and found the ANBU tattoo freshly carved and radiating chakra. I could feel it pulsing against my skin.

The chakra I could feel running through the spiral... it felt like the Hokage's powerful presence.

Dog gestured to my tattoo, "Red tattoos are regular ANBU. Captains have black tattoos."

"Noted." I droned, pushing myself up with my other arm.

The ANBU tattoo artist hummed, "You seem to have had a bad reaction."

"Yeah." I agreed, not wanting to look at my slowly bloating arm.

Turning to Dog, they said, "If the arm starts to lose feeling, or becomes unusable, take her to the medical bay immediately."

"Noted." Dog copied me. The ANBU artist huffed.

"I'm Horse, by the way, kid. By your mask, I would guess Wolf." Horse told me. I also would have guessed wolf if I looked at this mask.

I nodded and Horse snickered, elbowing Dog before leaving the room.

Dog looked at me, "Horse is a squad medic and fuinjutsu user. She is currently one of few who can apply an ANBU tattoo."

I waited for a moment and he added, "She has a sense of humor. An interesting one."

Something told me Horse was someone ANBU had to deal with frequently whether they liked it or not. Our next stop was what appeared to be a training room. Despite my new hyper awareness to my burning tattoo, my arm seemed to be perfectly fine. Dog closed the door behind us as I walked around, amazed that Konoha had such advanced underground architecture. It was concrete and kind of musty, but built sturdy and strong. There was a dirt floor and the training rooms were down further than the barracks so that they could be taller rooms with arching ceilings and lights built into both the walls and the ceiling.

"This is ANBU Field 4. I reserved it for us for the next few weeks." Dog explained, "You will report here at 0500 every morning and you will train until a brief lunch break at 1200 hours. Training resumes from 1300 hours to 2200."

I frowned, "That's a lot."

Dog tilted his head, "My thoughts are to get you out of training as soon as possible. The more you train each day, the fewer months you will be here."

I... actually appreciated he thought about that. I definitely hadn't considered how long it would take to get me to the level they wanted me at.

Taking in my silence, Dog ordered, "Two hundred push-ups."

"Ehhhhh?"

AN:

I really want next chapter to be entirely training montage. But I also want 4k words per chapter. Oops.

So I'm sorry for the delay in this chapter. I started college, art college to be specific, and I honestly don't have time to do anything. I haven't opened fanfiction in quite awhile. I didn't want to put this chapter up until I had the next chapter finished but I looked at the calendar and shit, even on my break I probably won't have time to write. So this is going up, and while I didn't want to put this up, this chapter is probably how its going to stay. Miyako I feel reacts correctly in this situation and I just need to push through.

Sorry for the long wait and next chapter will happen eventually. I write a few sentences every few weeks .-.

Thanks to the following for reviewing (:

Rainbow shark
MonochromeJoker29
Chamele
Dark Rose Charm
Kenshin135
animagirl
Reign of Sorrow