A/N: Hello all! If you read this the first time it was up, thank you for returning and welcome to all of you joining us for the first time. This was my first ever fanfiction, but is now reciving a major face lift and is … how do you put it … a LOT better. I am super pleased with this revised version and it has a lot of new surprises for those of you who read the original.

So don't own Naruto. Never have and never will.

Warnings:

Um this chapter has some child abuse (not to graphic)

And mentions death

Yeah I got nothing else so please enjoy and review. The next chapter should be up fairly soon.

"NOROIKO!"

A small girl cringed at the sound of her name being shouted. It was never good when he called for her, but it would be worse if she didn't respond. Noroiko, as her father called her, had long brown hair that was matted and almost grey with dirt and ash and bright orange eyes. Her only clothing was a large t-shirt that was just as dirty as the rest of her and littered with holes. She looked to be about four or five with sunken in cheeks and a round belly. She slowly rose from the fireplace that served as her room and hurried to her father's study before he could be put in a worse mood. The child darted into the room and knelt in front of the man's chair with her head bowed.

"Hello there curse child" the man mocked. She kept her head bent, never looking into his angry face. Sir, the only name the child was allowed to call him, was a tall man, standing over six foot, with well-defined muscles. He had short black hair with a slight wave to it. He appeared friendly and welcoming to all but the small child in front of him. "You've had it pretty good lately haven't you, you little rat." He waited for a reaction, but the child sat still as if made of stone. "Well the fun is over" he stated calmly. When he again received no reaction he backhanded the child hard across the face. "I found some dust in the attic" he taunted as he kicked her in the stomach. "You know I expect to find not even a speck of dirt in this house when I come home and yet you can't even do that right. You've been shirking your responsibilities again" he snapped with a cold sneer. The child remained silent knowing any sound would give him excuse to continue the beating longer.

Finally he grew bored and grabbed the girl by the hair. Tears began to prickle her eyes as her hair caught all of her weight, but she refused to let them fall. He dragged the child up the stairs and toward her "room". That is when she started to tremble. It was a well-known fact within the household that whenever he took the child to the fireplace it meant big trouble. Sometimes he would start a fire in the fireplace when the child wasn't around. This wasn't near as bad seeing as the fire would normally go out before she had to go in and she wouldn't get burned badly. He threw in a few logs and began to work on building a fire. As he worked on the fire he muttered about stupid, cursed children and promises.

When he had a strong fire going he grabbed Noroiko's bruised little arm and tossed her in the flames. She hit the back of the fireplace with a sickening smack. An ear piercing scream slipped from her lips that would cause anyone but a demon to weep at the sound. She rolled out of the inferno as quickly as possible only to bring the still burning logs with her. The room had a wooden floor that caught fire almost immediately. "You stupid little girl" her father screamed as he picked her up by the throat. "I don't even care anymore if you die" he said as he hurled the helpless child through the third story window.

Well this is it; the nightmare is finally over she thought with a smile just before hitting the ground.

A couple of hours later a man with silver lopsided hair stood over the limp child looking down on her with a man from the village named Jiro. The silver haired man had just finished checking on the girl's condition. She was stable but would need extensive medical care if she had any chance of making a full recovery. "Poor girl, to lose the last of her family in a house fire and barley survive herself" the silver haired man said sadly. He lost his family when he was young and understood the toll it could take on a child. He also knew how hard medical treatments were, having been in the hospital many times in his young life.

"She deserves it anyway" Jiro huffed.

The silver haired man cocked his head to the side "why do you say that?"

"She's cursed. Can't you just get rid of her Kakashi, you are a ninja right?"

"How is she cursed" Kakashi asked as he knelt down to brush the girl's bangs from her face.

"Her eyes glow. We 'took care' of her mother for the same thing." Jiro said in a matter of fact way. Kakashi motioned for him to continue while again checking on the child. "The girl was really sick and almost died after she was born. That woman's eyes then started to glow and she healed the little monster. Obviously we can't have someone carrying a curse walking around the village. So, she had to be put to death. Her husband, a good and honest man, knew nothing about the events that led up to this. Before he could be told, the woman made him promise to raise the child should something ever happen to her. When our village leaders came for her, he had already made that promise. They had planned to take the girls life as well because once she opened her eyes it was plain to see that she had inherited the same cursed eyes as her mother. The problem was her mother had tricked her father into making that promise and he was too good of a man to go back on his word. Plus, no one was willing to be the one to actually take the life of a helpless child anyway. The village decided he would raise the child until she turned thirteen, at which time she would be put to death."

"What will the village do to her now" Kakashi asked with hardened eyes.

"My guess, just leave her where she is; she will die sooner or later" Jiro answered nonchalantly.

"What's her name" Kakashi questioned, gently gathering the child in his arms and slowly rising to his full height.

"Noroiko" Jiro laughed.

Kakashi shook his head with a sad sigh. "I'll be taking her with me" he said, giving the other man a harsh glare before turning to go home. As he swiftly leapt from tree to tree, Kakashi pondered the humanity of the village he just left. As he looked at the fragile face covered in burns resting against his chest, Kakashi decided that to name one's own daughter curse child had to be one of the worst things he had ever heard of someone doing, and he heard a lot in his line of work.

The girl lay in a hospital bed hooked up to monitors, ivs, and oxygen. On one side of her bed sat a table with a beautiful white lily in a vase and a couple of picture books. On the other side an elderly man sat listening to Kakashi who stood in front of him.

"How could everyone in that village be ok with what was going on? I mean someone has to have a sense of decency that lives there" Kakashi rambled as he paced around the room.

"I know you're upset Kakashi, but I'm sure they had their reasons. Now then, if you could calm down, we need to decide what to do with the girl" the older man said in a frustrated tone. It had been two days since Kakashi stumbled into the village with the unconscious child in his arms. Kakashi sprinted the whole way back and turned what should have been at least a two day trip into one. By the time he made it back he was near chakra exhaustion, but his effort had saved the girl.

"I'm sorry Lord Hokage. I know outsiders are supposed to have permission before entering the village, but I couldn't just leave her there" Kakashi sighed as he sat down in another chair. The Hokage and Kakashi had yet to come up with any sort of plan for the child. Part of the reason was Kakashi's condition when he entered the village and another part was his inability to discuss the topic without getting worked up.

"No it's ok. To be honest, I would have done the same thing" The Hokage said as he too sighed. With that, the tension in the room seemed to ease. "Now then, back to this curse business. The villager told you her eyes glow; is that correct?"

"That is correct sir. They also said her mother's did as well" Kakashi said, almost like a report.

"It sounds like some sort of kekkei genkai to me. Maybe a twist off the Sharingan or Byakugan" The Hokage concluded.

"They did this to her because of that? I knew some villages persecuted those with a kekkei genkai, but I didn't know it was this bad" Kakashi said horrified.

"Sadly yes" The Hokage confirmed, shaking his head.

A nurse entered the room a moment later. "You can try and wake her now" she said. They both nodded before Kakashi stood and walked over to the sleeping child.

"Hey their sweetie, time to wake up" said a very concerned Kakashi as he gently shook her shoulder. With that, she slowly began to open her eyes. She squinted against the light before her eyes adjusted and then looked around the room, paying careful attention to the people present. The nurse checked a few machines before leaving again. "How are you feeling" Kakashi asked as he reached toward the small child. In response she promptly retreated into the pillows. Kakashi and the Hokage shared a concerned look before turning back to the one on the bed.

"We won't hurt you, I promise. I'm the Hokage, your rescuer here is Kakashi, and you're in a village called Konoha. It is a village with ninja like Kakashi here. We want to help you" the Hokage said very gently. "How old are you honey?" She stared at them blankly, too afraid to answer. "Is it alright if we try and guess?" She nodded her head just enough for them to see.

"Are you 4?" asked Kakashi. She shook her head. "Younger" he asked, raising his visible eyebrow. Again she shook her head. "I didn't think so, but wanted to make sure. How about 5...no. 6...no. 7?" This time she nodded in the affirmative. Kakashi turned to the Hokage astonished.

"Are you able to eat very often" asked the Hokage with a bit more concern in his voice. Not sure what he meant by often, the child waited. "Do you eat everyday" he asked, now sounding just as worried as Kakashi. Ashamed, she looked at the blankets and shook her head. The Hokage turned to Kakashi "that's why she is so small. It's common for malnutrition to stunt a child's growth, although this is one of the most severe cases I have seen." Turning his attention back to the child "there is something else bothering me. Would you mind if we changed your name?" It was her turn to be surprised. Her father gave her that name so she would never forget the pain she caused and now she couldn't understand why she should have anything else.

They both chuckled softly seeing her shocked expression. "I'll take that as a go ahead. Kakashi why don't you pick" the Hokage said lightly.

Kakashi paused, slightly embarrassed. "Well I did have something in mind. Rie, it means valued blessing, because that's what I believe you will be to this village" he said looking at the floor instead of the child he was addressing.

"I think it's perfect," said the Hokage brightly, "but more importantly what do you think?"

"Really?" It was barely above a whisper, but the sound amazed even the small figure that uttered it. When the men recovered from their shock, they laughed again.

"Of course" they both responded smiling.

"Now that that is settled, I have some work to catch up on and you little missy need to rest. I will be by later to check on you and we can talk some more then. As for you Kakashi, get some sleep; you haven't left this room since you got back for your mission."

Over the next few weeks Rie began to trust Kakashi and the Hokage, but that was it. If anyone else entered her room she'd go into a near panic attack. It turns out her kekkei genkai was called Gyoshi-ho, meaning healing eyes. To the child's surprise they were happy about it.

One afternoon Rie was sitting in bed snuggling Aiko, the teddy bear the Hokage gave her, with Kakashi asleep in the chair next to the bed. Kakashi rarely left Rie and even if she was still weary of him, she was grateful. The Hokage came in waking Kakashi, making him fall out of the chair. Rie silently giggled as he got up, still looking half asleep.

"We have something to talk to you about, Rie" the Hokage started as he sat at the foot of the hospital bed. "Tomorrow you are being released from the hospital. Your wounds are almost healed, but I am sorry to say you are going to be left with many scars." This didn't mean much to the child as she had always had scars; her dad saw to that. "The other thing is that you need a place to stay." He glanced at Kakashi to continue.

"If it's alright with you I want to adopt you. I know I'm a little young, but I want to be there for you. That would make you my daughter and me your dad." Rie flinched slightly at the word, so he quickly added "but you don't have to call me that. I want to take care of you and make sure nothing like this happens again." He paused looking nervous. "What do you say?"

After some hesitation, she agreed.