Now! Here is where the plot begins. Brief time-skip (about two weeks) This focuses mainly on Mal, and introduces one…two…new characters. I think...as well as some familiar faces!

Naruto is not mine. Anything you don't recognize probably is. Enjoy!

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Her breaths were hasty and rushed as she ran. Her sandals pounded against the dirt road, faster, faster. Her lungs burned and her chest screamed. But she couldn't stop; she had to keep going. To release the rage that bubbled in her stomach; to suppress the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks.

Too late.

She felt the trickling warmth against her flushed face, and her breath burst as her footsteps slowed, gasping for air as she allowed a few tears to fall before angrily dragging her sleeve across her face, snuffling loudly. She heard nothing around her…at least she didn't have to deal with the added embarrassment of crying in public.

Her Daddy was away; some official business. A mission. He'd been pretty scattered as he'd explained it to her, rapidly packing his things, grinning good-naturedly and ruffling her hair as she patched up a hole in the seat of his pants. She hadn't thought much of it at the time.

And then, once he'd left…she'd realized.

A week with only her Tou-san and Roku; the insults had started almost immediately.

"Aren't you even trying?!" Sasuke demanded angrily, slamming his fist against the table top; sending a pale crack stretching through the wood. Malvika winced, knuckling at her eyes angrily. No matter how hard she tried, strained, made faces…whenever she opened her eyes, they were an inky onyx.

Not the demonic red her Tou-san craved.

"I am Tou-san!" She began earnestly, pleading with him, "It's just not working…I just…I haven't encountered a life-threatening situation that would unlock my Sharingan!" That sounded plausible, convincing. Forget that her twin brother had been able to activate and utilize his Sharingan since the tender age of eight; forget that she might not even have a Sharingan at all.

A soft chuckle came from the doorway. Malvika glared at her dark-haired brother, who merely raised an eyebrow.

"Aw, little Mala still having trouble with your Sharingan? Tsk, tsk." He mocked her, leaning his weight casually against the door-frame, a single eyebrow rose questioningly, "One might think you incapable."

"Shut up Roku…" She warned through clenched teeth. Wasn't he her twin? Why did he always oppose her? Insult her? They'd shared a stinking uterus after all! Didn't that mean anything? No, it didn't. If anything, they had grown more distanced over the two weeks they'd been Genin. Since they'd been separated. "I'm trying as best as I can."

"I don't care if you're trying as hard as you can!" Sasuke roared, standing suddenly, his chair screeching backwards, "Because it's obviously not good enough! You're a disgrace! Not even in the top ten of your Genin class? And you can't even activate your Sharingan yet? You are almost thirteen Malvika….you're a disgrace is what you are!"

"B-but, Tou-san!" Mala stumbled over her words, already feeling tears working up in the corners of her eyes. He was being unfair. But she couldn't help but feel that it was partially her fault. He wanted to revitalize their clan; and she was a roadblock to that so long as she couldn't use her Sharingan.

"Get out!"

And she ran.

"I'm a failure!" She groaned, falling to the ground, feeling grass prick at her as she buried her face in her hands. She had managed to run herself out of the village; into the surrounding forest. Here, surrounded by thick-trunked trees and the gentle noises of birds, her heart began to slow, calm over coming her being.

She missed her Daddy. Terribly. But he would return soon. He should. He'd gotten word from an old mentor of his, someone who Mal respected and loved. Jiraiya-sama had sent word that he wished to meet with Naruto. And so Naruto had left.

Hopefully he'd return soon…hopefully with the Toad Sage.

She pushed her fingers back through her short, unruly blonde locks, staring at the ground in front of her. The Sharingan…she just couldn't manage…it wasn't working! It was as though there was something in the way…

Who was she kidding? She wasn't a real Uchiha. She'd heard it many times. She was an Uzumaki; her Daddy's daughter. Blonde locks cut off at her shoulder; a cherub face complete with childish grin. Fair, yet pink skin, so unlike the pale of her Tou-san and brother; the orange and blue oriented outfit, almost a replica of her Daddy's old outfit. And then…there were the six whisker-like marks that slashed alongside her jawbone.

The Kyuubi!

She could ask it for help! It would know what the deal was…it knew everything! She was sure of it! True…last time she had tried to speak to the fox, she had nearly peed herself for fright…but that had been a long time ago.

It was about time the damn thing helped her out.

With new resolve Mal shifted around, sitting cross-legged, now grinning crookedly. She prepared herself; about to close her eyes…

And something flashed briefly; something which didn't belong which she spotted from the corner of her eye. It was black; human shaped; with red clouds.

Black…with red clouds?

In an instant Malvika was on her feet. Where she had seen the person…there was nothing. But he had probably moved by now. She could feel beads of sweat at the back of her neck and at her forehead, teeth clenched as she glanced around. Paranoia set in; had she just imagined the person?

No. She was perfectly certain.

"So you're the new host."

The voice sounded directly behind her, and Malvika's shoulders tensed. This was real; she was in danger. Everyone had warned her of the Akatsuki; the men who wore the black cloaks with red clouds. She knew what this guy was after.

The Kyuubi.

Crapping fox!

She turned to face the assailant. He was tall…and familiar. His hair was dark, and slightly gray; his face aged, but not wrinkled. She knew who he was, however, by the glint of red at his eyes.

Uchiha Itachi; her uncle.

"And a relative no less! How…interesting." He spoke again, staring down at her with something like disdain. Nervously Mal took a half a step backwards, staring at him. What was she thinking? That if she made no sudden movements and kept quiet she could sneak away?

Idiot.

But he made no move to attack her, and she took another step, and then another. He remained expressionless. And then, a fifth step, and her back collided with something. Something sturdy; yet squishy. Something human.

And as she turned in horror; something blue.

Malvika gasped, now stumbling backwards in the other direction, colliding directly with the chest of the person she had just been trying to escape. Vice-like he gripped her arm, and Mal's stomach dropped to her feet.

She hadn't even put up a decent fight!

And she was caught.

"Well aren't you cooperative?" The blue guy...Kissy-Missy? No, Kisame, asked mockingly, shifting his grip on the large sword he held against his shoulder. White eyes with pinpoints of black for pupils stared at her, a jagged smile anything but reassuring.

She jerked her arm from the grasp of her uncle, finally making an intelligent decision to back away from both of them…against a tree. They simply watched her; as though interested in what she did next; her back pressed against the rough bark of the tree. What could she do?

Oh, that's right, run!

In a rapid, almost impossible to see movement Malvika drew dual kunai, bulleting both at the Akatsuki members before turning tail and running; only to be stop a short way off by Itachi. He appeared quite suddenly in front of her, extending a fist, which then buried itself in her stomach as she was forced to a halt. Her eyes widened as she doubled over, coughing up a small amount of blood.

Clutching her stomach Mal stumbled backwards; where had the shark man gone?

She didn't have time to think though; now was the time for action. And she sprung forward, her own fingers curling to a fist, aiming itself for the face of her uncle, her weight thrown behind it. Itachi's eyes glinted and he turned at the last moment, side-stepping the attack, Mal's fist passing through air, her body following. His hand then chopped harshly at her back, throwing her to the ground.

She just had to wander out of the village didn't she? No one would think to look for her…her teammates wouldn't know she was missing…Tou-san and Roku would assume she was off sulking in the streets.

She was completely alone.

She lay still, face down in the dirt. A tingling sensation had spread through her arms, centering at the point where Itachi's hand had collided with her back.

"Is she dead?"

Mal couldn't help but giggle as the blue-man spoke. Was he stupid? Of course she wasn't dead! She was alone…alone, cornered, and desperate.

But she wasn't done.

In a moment she was scrambling to her feet, ignoring her ribs as they protested any sort of movement, crouching into a fighting position, hands held in front of her, one arm fully extended, and the other drawn to her chest. She could fight them directly…

Somehow, that seemed foolish.

What she needed to do was find a way to signal where she was. Maybe someone would come a help her. If not…she was a dead duck anyways, might as well give it a shot.

She drew her hands together at her stomach, but was interrupted by the sight of a large, bandaged sword slicing through the air; aimed at her. Narrowly the girl dodged, thoughts of whatever Jutsu she planned to perform fleeing her mind as she concentrated on the immediate threat.

Kisame was a skilled swordsman, only Mal's complete concentration of the movements of his feet and the sword, and her rapid dodging kept him from cleaving her arm from her body. She could see his nostrils flare, as though he smelled her fear, and as the sword glanced her shoulder, ripping through her jacket to shave the skin form her arm, a certain bloodlust came to his eyes, instilling fear in her heart as she stumbled backwards. She clutched at her arm, warm blood, much like the warmth of tears, gushing to soak through her fingers and drip to the ground.

Too late did she realize that she didn't know where Itachi was. She felt a solid kick at her side, sending her crashing through shrubbery and slamming into the thick trunk of a tree. Before gravity could slam her into the ground, Itachi's fist sunk into her stomach for the second time. Breath rushed from her and Mal finally fell, limp, to the ground, still clutching her shoulder. Her vision was blurry, fuzzy and disoriented. But as she passed out, she could just hear voices which did not belong to her assailants, as well as see the silhouettes of peoples he could have sworn she knew.

And then nothing.

"How long should she be out?"

The voice was whispered, soft, husky and masculine. The speaker sat perched on the edge of a stool, tapping his foot against the ground impatiently. Dark hair, cut to shaggily frame his face, fell across pale green eyes, filled with worry for a girl he'd never met before.

"Soon. All of her wounds are physical. No damage was done to her Chakra system, and with her…unusual abilities, the healing will be accelerated." The replying voice was feminine, much older. The speaker was a medical ninja, a pink-haired, green eyed woman who was checking the vital signs of her patient for what seemed like the millionth time.

"If she's not dying, why are you obsessing over it?" The boy asked, raising his thick eyebrows at his mother in question as she sent him a warning glance, pink brows furrowed.

"Be quiet Shin. Lord, why are you still here?"

"Because!" he leapt from his stool, striking a heroic pose, flashing the pearly whites as Sakura deadpanned, rolling her eyes. Rock Shin was far too much like his father.

And if she had wanted to continue to deal with Lee, she wouldn't have divorced him.

"I'm the one that saved her!" He finished his statement, grinning wildly; obviously the Chuunin was proud of himself.

"So did Yukio." Sakura replied, referring to a boy who had come and gone quickly, his silent, reflective nature showing as he refused to stay through Mal's treatment, merely handing her limp, bleeding body to Sakura and turning to leave, as though it were a thing he did everyday. "Yet, he's not sitting by her bedside, waiting for her to wake up."

"What the fuck did you do to her?!"

The door to the room had flown open upon these words, dark, accusing eyes immediately finding Shin, the most likely, and easiest to find, target. In less than a moment Roku had strode across the room, taking Shin by the collar of his green turtle neck, lifting the older boy just slightly from the seat of his stool, staring into the boy's face, just activated Sharingan flashing dangerously.

"Well? What the fuck happened to my sister?!"

Shin was at a complete loss for words, stammering and sputtering, obviously frightened by the enraged Uchiha boy. He glanced at his mother, pleading with puppy-dog eyes. Sakura sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Roku, please," She soothed, approaching the boy, placing her hands gently on the son of her two best friends, "Shin didn't do this to Mal."

This didn't seem to help as Roku jerked her hands form his shoulders, pushing Shin to the floor and approaching his sister's bedside, his eyes dulling to onyx as he stared at her slowly rising and falling chest. Her entire right arm, including a portion of her chest, was bandaged, other than that she simply looked as though she were sleeping. He couldn't help but feel guilty…responsible for this. He was her brother. He was supposed to protect her.

"Who did this?" he asked; his voice a harsh whisper as his hand found Mal's, holding it tightly, eyes glued to her face.

"The Akatsuki" came a reply from the doorway. A deep, rough voice. Roku turned in surprise.

"Jiraiya-sama!"