A/N: This story is already finished, so it won't take into account the last Naruto movie. Updates will be up to twice a week, depending on how much editing I get done. Thanks for your patience =]

Rebirth

Part One: Discovery

Chapter Two: Seeing Red

My name is Chigetsu Akako, and I am ten years old.

I got my way and was enrolled in the ninja academy. Since I had spent so much time watching the students and training in secret, I was already very advanced. I spent only two years at the Academy, but I was able to make friends. I was surprised my classmates liked me.

I wish my mother was there to see me receive my hitai-ate. I think she would have been proud. No one came to my graduation.

I like my team. Yuumaru is loud, and Asahi is nice. Shigure cares about us a lot. He's a good teacher.

Today was supposed to be the day I went on my first C-rank mission, but it was cancelled. Instead, my team and I were waiting outside the Tsuchikage Tower for instructions.

"What's going on, Shigure-sensei?" Yuumaru asked.

"There is an emissary from Konoha here."

"Again?" Asahi asked.

"Why is Konoha having so many problems?" I grumbled. "Can't they take care of themselves?"

"Don't be insensitive, Akako-chan," Shigure admonished. "These are troubled times."

The other cells around us were just as confused as we were, but after a few more minutes, the elderly Tsuchikage appeared.

"Listen!" he said. "You must all be ready to fight and defend the village at a moment's notice! War is upon us, due to the actions of Akatsuki."

I was shocked. I don't understand much of village politics, but I knew that this was huge. Akatsuki had taken and killed our jinchuuriki, and now it wanted to declare war? Everyone was talking. Many of our sensei had fought in the Third Shinobi War, and everyone knew someone who had fought or died in it.

"What's going to happen now, Shigure-sensei?" I asked, as he led us away from the crowd.

"We train," he said grimly. "Asahi-kun, if I am called into combat, promise me you'll take care of Yuu-kun and Akako-chan."

"Yes, Shigure-sensei," Asahi murmured. He's the oldest in our cell, thirteen, and the most mature. Yuumaru is the strongest, and I'm the fastest.

A few days later, Shigure was called into combat. The Fourth Shinobi War was about to begin.

-paragraph break-

Asahi, Yuumaru, and I spent the next few weeks furiously training, trying to fill in the holes left by all the jounin and chuunin who were leaving the village to fight. My skills in iryou ninjutsu were still underdeveloped; there was no one in Iwagakure available to take me as an apprentice. Shigure told me in secret I would probably have to go to Konoha to complete my education.

Still, I was called to help at the hospital when the fighting began. The first day was a nightmare. I had never seen so much blood. Things were going badly in the Lightning Country. Even though we were far away from the fighting, all of us left behind could feel the unrest in the land. The amount of chakra produced by the hundreds of thousands of combatants fighting gave me headaches.

For once, I was exhausted enough to sleep through the night.

The next day was a little better. Our forces, led by Kitsuchi, were able to secure victory on their front, with the help of Uzumaki Naruto. Everyone was hopeful.

However, in the early evening, I fainted. The amount of chakra that suddenly exploded into being overwhelmed me. When I woke up, I saw the silhouette of a giant stem on the horizon and was filled with fear.

No one was there to worry about me, so I got up and got myself a glass of water. Then, someone yelled for me to get more bandages.

"We need more reinforcements!"

I looked up from the intensive surgery I was assisting to see a chuunin burst into the room. He was bleeding badly from his left arm but did not seem to notice.

"It's a trap!" I shouted. The ninja's chakra felt alien, and it was definitely unfamiliar. Once I encounter someone's chakra signature, after a few seconds, I never forget it.

"No, listen to me!" the enemy ninja shouted, even as he pulled out his weapons and began stabbing people.

"Get him!" Yuumaru bellowed.

"No, Asahi-kun, Yuu-kun!" I shouted.

The enemy ninja was defeated, but at a terrible price. I watched with my own eyes as my two teammates were cut down. They fell down and did not get up again, and I knew they were dead.

I collapsed.

"How could this happen?" I cried.

Lifting my face to the sky, I saw the moon, bigger and more beautiful than I'd ever seen it. I saw a strange pattern appear on it, and I suddenly became very sleepy. As I closed my eyes for what I thought was the last time, I saw red.

-end of chapter-

A/N: I did much research on the Naruto Wikia to get the pacing and details of the Fourth Shinobi War down, but let me know if you see any discrepancies. Part One will end in one more chapter, then the real fun will begin!