Chapter 4

Ah! Thank you all! You all rock. Everyone one of you taking the time to read this through deserve a cupcake. Once again thank you all who have favorite this story and followed along! I'll do my best to update at least once a week.

I'm bracing myself for the end but his voice cuts through my concentration.

"So," he drawls casually, "is it the hair colour that makes you so crazy, or is it just your personality?"

"Why are you toying with me? Just kill me."

"I don't want to hurt you Akako, but you didn't even give me half a chance to explain myself."

I'm confused. "Why do you want to explain yourself to me? I tried to kill you. I am your enemy." My voice is hopeless.

"If I let you up will you please let me explain?" He pleads with me.

I take in his expression, it's hard to distrust something that looks so honest and sincere.

"I will." I'm surprised at myself. Usually this behaviour is just setting me up for a major fall. He could be tricking me, playing on my emotions. Is he going to make me care about him so he can control me? Use my power? Will he crush me in the end?

He must see the indecision in my face because he says, "Please Red, promise me you won't run away or try and attack me?" He helps me sit up but keeps his hands on my arms. It's so hard to keep my guard up. It's been a while since I struggled to keep someone at bay.

I'm still torn, is he trying to deceive me, or his he honest?

He takes his hands off my arms and grabs both my hands instead. "What happened to you Red? Who hurt you so badly that you can't trust anyone anymore? I see how you look at me, like you can't decide if I'm trying to take something from you, or just plain hurt you." He looks me in the eyes then, and they're so angry. They gleam like ice so cold that it could burn you. "I don't know where you came from Red, or what they tried to do to you. But I'm not like them." He squeezes both my hands. "All a ninja really has is his word. Akako Kita, I give you my word I'm not going to hurt you, I want to help you."

When he meets my eyes this time, he's grinning mischievously. "If you can't trust the next Hokage, who can ya trust?"

I am absolutely shocked. Stunned. Speechless. Flabbergasted. I drop my eyes to look at his hands covering mine and for the first time in my life I'm not afraid. I trust him. I am free.

What an exhilarating feeling, to be free of a burden that you've been carrying for a lifetime. I feel like laughing and dancing. I feel a joy so strong it threatens to pop my chest open and spill my insides.

When I can finally look back up at Naruto I know he can see what I feel there. His answering smile is so bright. So bright, in fact, it alerts me to how low the sun has sunk in the sky. Somehow I know that the nightmares have left me. I can sleep peacefully for once, his eyes will no longer plague my sleep. I wonder what that will feel like.

I remove my hands from Naruto's and grin at him, "Alright, Mr. Naruto Uzumaki. You owe me an explanation."

He settles himself to tell a long story. I am shocked, however, when he tells me everything. The monster fox. How he was the vessel that brought salvation to the village. How his people shun him because of a decision that he did not make. That he has no way to unmake.

I'm even more surprised at the ball of anger that ignites in my stomach. How dare they? He had no choice! If it wasn't for him they would all be dead. Foolish people; stupid people. I want to hurt them who hurt him.

He tells me sometimes when he is very angry the fox starts to take over. He tells me in battle if he can generate enough chakra he can become the fox. He explains the sensation of growing claws. How it feels to burn alive from the inside out, knowing that the only thing that can calm the fire is to demolish your target.

I'm in awe of him. I also find respect for him.

He shows me the seal on his body. I gently place the tips of my fingers on it, and my own secret burns in response. I drop one hand to touch my own mark, and I feel connected to Naruto. A new and very alien sensation.

"You amaze me," I say shyly, "you have an amazing inner fire that burns you, pushes you to continue on no matter what. I understand you on all levels, because I'm just like you."

It pleases him to see me open up. He grins at me and leans towards me, "Come on Red, I told you a story, why don't you tell me one now?"

"My story isn't a happy one," I warn him. His response is to lean against a tree, signalling that he is prepared to listen to my long tale.

I begin the story of my life.

"When I was a baby, a man found me in a field. He gave me my name, but I cannot remember his. He was just travelling home and came across me, and decided to keep me. He lived in the Village of Sound. Until the age of five, I was very happy with him. Normal. Until Diablo came. He was from the outskirts of town. He had a special gift, with just skin contact he can tell if you have any special talents or not. It was rumored that he searched high and low for powerful people to complete his army and take over all the villages. If that is true, I don't doubt it, but I do not know for sure.

He visited me and my caretaker, in the disguise of a friend. I can always remember being afraid of him, and his cold, compassionless eyes. They reminded me of snakes. One day, he passed me my toy and our fingers brushed, and from the small contact he knew. He knew what I could do. He knew what I was. I didn't even know at the time, but he did. Before I could even blink, he killed my caretaker and took me away to this home in the outskirts. He owned a lot of land… and a lot of people. None quite as old as me. He didn't like the strange color of my hair, so he kept it sheared short. I learned very quickly to become a skilled ninja, you had to learn quickly, if you didn't you were punished. Punishment could mean anything. From starvation to being beaten within an inch of your life. He marked you as his own. Not a seal, but a scar." I lift my shirt a bit to show a star cut above my belly button. A star forever etched into my skin.

"You learned to trust no one. Anyone who acted nice toward you was trying to screw you over. He often ordered his people to kill each other in secret and promised great rewards to the victor. He's taught me everything I've ever known. I perfected my talent in secret. I would put up a front that I was still unsure how to wield my power effectively. In reality, I've always been very much in control and building my skill every day. I use it not only as offense, but also, a defensive weapon. I planned my escape for years, and finally I pulled it off. I injured Diablo badly, but he's still alive. I killed a lot of his favorite talents too. I know he's never given up looking for me, because he does not take kindly to losing. He knows now that I cannot be controlled, and when he finds me, he'll kill me. That why I have to scan everything around me so closely. Why I don't trust anyone. Why I run."

I bow my head in shame. "Hearing minds is a freaky thing to do. When the others found out what I could do they shunned me. A freak shunned by other freaks. They thought that I was always listening to them. They thought I spied on their thoughts for Diablo to see who was truly loyal to him and who was not. It was a rare day when someone did not try and kill me."

I begin to cry, "I just want to be free. Accepted. To belong somewhere." Embarrassed by such a show of emotion I quickly wipe my face. "There it is, the story of my life up to date."

I hesitantly look up at Naruto. I don't want to see pity –or worse yet- rejection.

Instead he looks…proud. "I knew it!" He exclaims, "I knew you were something special."

He jumps to his feet and drags me to mine. "Come on Red, it's getting dark here, let's get back to the village. Tomorrow I have some people I want you to meet."

I laugh, "Lead the way, Hokage."

We make our way over to the village. Standing on one of the streets all the lights and sounds and people have me amazed. "I've never seen so many people." I breathe.

"Hey! Naruto!"

We both turn towards to unfamiliar voice. I see two boys approaching us. One has spikey hair, sharp eyes, and strange red markings on his cheeks. He has a puppy tucked away in the hood of his sweater. He's waving at us and breaks into a run.

The other boy…looks bored. He seems annoying that he had to increase his pace to keep up with the other boy.

As they gain ground towards us my hand twitches towards my throwing stars. My hearing spreads out as I narrow my eyes and decide when I should throw them. "No Red! Those are our friends!" Naruto hisses at me.

I instantly relax my hand and try to appear normal. "Kiba, Shickamaru." Naruto greets them in turn.

The dog boy, Kiba, glances at me. He gives me a quick once over. "Hey, what's a girl like you hangin' out with this guy?" He grins widely at Naruto.

Naruto begins to fume, "Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!" He gets up in Kiba's face, who just laughs at him and sticks his tongue out.

The bored boy, Shickamaru, cuts in, "We were on the way to get some ramen, and we wanted to see if you could get your Sensi friend to hook us up for free."

"Ooh! Ramen! I loooove Ramen!" Naruto has instantly forgotten Kiba's insult.

"Hey, I know how to get us some free ramen," I say. All three boys look at me, intrigued. "It's going to take a lot of fancy ninja work though," I warn solemnly.

"Wooohoo!" Cheers Naruto.

"I told you, you're way too cool to be hangin' out with that guy." Kiba jerks his thumb at Naruto.

"How troublesome." Grumbles Shickamaru.

Soon we are in position. I stand by the ramen shop, listening hard trying to find the chef. I finally identify him and complete my hand seals. His mind opens quickly to me. He's a nice man, I decide, he's thinking of buying his wife some flowers. I push a command into his mind. Prepare four bowls of ramen and place them on the counter. He obeys quickly and when the task is complete I whistle softly.

Naruto bursts into the street with Kiba's dog, Akamaru, hot on his heels yelping. Naruto runs around the street yelling, while crashing into people. He earns himself a lot of complains and a few screams. Then Kiba joins the scene. He chases Akamaru, throwing insults at Naruto's back. Together they create a beautiful commotion. The chef comes out to see what is making all that noise. That's when Shickamaru creeps in, grabs the ramen and sneaks back out. Mission accomplished. I whistle louder this time and disappear.

I meet Shickamaru at our designated spot, a tall tree on the outskirts of town. We climb up to a thick branch that will support everyone's weight so we can sit on it. Soon, Naruto and Kiba drop down beside us. After we've eaten Naruto puts his arm over my shoulder, "Great job Red!" He congratulates me.

"Red, huh? If you ever want to stop messing with that clown, come find me." He gifts me with a wink.

"Oh bother," Shickamaru sighs while Naruto leans across to try and grab a laughing Kiba.

I feel truly happy and accepted. I feel something for these boys.

They feel like family.