Chapter Four: Her Purpose

Kisho watched as Akina tried to teach Mitsukai how to spell her name. 'How worthless...' He shook his head. Ever since the day Mitsukai had been brought back, Kisho had begun to dislike her more and more with each passing day. He felt no emotion towards his little girl at all. Once she had been playing in the backyard, racing around a tree, and got a splinter in her finger. She ran to him, tears in her dark blue eyes, and held out her finger in despair. He looked at her with annoyance, and then slapped her hand away.

"Go to your mother." He grunted and went back to reading his newspaper. Mitsukai's tiny brow furrowed with confusion. From the age of two until she turned five, that's how things were between them. He neglected her without remorse, leaving Akina to be both a mother and father to her.

One day Akina watched as Mitsukai tried desperately to gain her father's attention and love, and he promptly pushed her away. Her heart ached as she tried to imagine how Mitsukai felt. On her birthday, Kisho decided to work over time, purposely skipping the child's birthday. The next day Mitsukai asked him why he didn't come and he replied, "Because I don't like you. Why would I waste my time pretending to like you just because it was your birthday?"

Kisho turned his back on the child and left the room. Mitsukai watched him leave the room and a new emotion consumed her. Hatred. How could he treat her like that? What had she done to deserve such ill treatment? Akina's eyes widened in shock and she dropped a glass plate on the floor. It shattered and after it followed an eerie silence. Mitsukai stood in the same spot, still staring after her father, eyes flickering amber as she clenched her fists tightly at his sides. The joy that was usually on her face was replaced with an intense look of anger. Her eyes continued to flicker until they reached a dim solid gold. Suddenly, Mitsukai turned and faced her mother, eyes normal again.

"Mother, why doesn't father like me?" She demanded in a soft whisper. The pain resonated in her voice and struck Akina's heart strings. Akina wanted to tell the girl that her dad was just grumpy, or that he had a bad day; yet, she knew that Mitsukai was smarter than that. More than likely, she'd only asked just to see what her mother would tell her. Would she be truthful, or would she try to ease her daughter's pain by telling her a sugar-coated lie?

"Well," Akina cleared her throat, "If it means anything to you, he treats me the same way."

"But why?" Mitsukai looked away, then back at her mother.

"I-I don't know for sure...I just know that he wanted a son more than anything in this world." Akina could no longer bring herself to look directly at her daughter as she spoke, "For as long as he believed that you would be a boy, he was happy. He smiled, joked, even laughed. But the day you were born...that was the day he stopped. And he changed. Please, don't be mad at him, Mitsukai; it was hard for him to accept the truth."

Mitsukai only nodded, then turned and went to her room, leaving her mother to watch her walk away and wonder if she had done the right thing.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Mitsukai realized that her father did not love her. It was confusing but she naturally began to dislike him as well. She began to avoid him and often refused to talk to him whenever he asked her a question. Akina always felt the tension in the room when both were present but didn't care; she believed it was Kisho's fault that Mitsukai was beginning to act that way and made a habit to point that out to him whenever he chose to complain about Mitsukai.

Almost a week after Mitsukai's birthday, there was a knock at the front door. Kisho was out back but Akina was in the kitchen as usual cleaning. She went to the door to find a young blonde teen standing there looking back at her.

"Hello." He smiled briefly, and then tilted his chin up towards her, "Is your daughter here?"

Akina frowned, "Yes, but who are you?" Akina was captivated by his appearance. From the neck up he seemed to be a normal teenage boy...but once her eyes settled on his black cloak with red clouds, flags waved and alarms went off inside of her head.

He sighed heavily and mumbled, "Go figure." He straightened his posture and gave her a serious look. "I come from Boshoku. You remember us, yeah? We came for your daughter back when she was just a baby and we told you that we would come back for her when she turned five. We know that she just celebrated a birthday."

Akina froze when he mentioned the Boshoku and didn't hear anything else he said after that. Tiny feet padded softly on the wood floor behind Akina and came to a stop behind her. "Mother, who is this?" Mitsukai asked gently tugging on Akina's apron. The boy smiled when he recognized Mitsukai and held out his hand.

"Wanna go get some ice cream with me?" He asked pleasantly. Mitsukai twitched at the mention of her favorite treat and started to inch forward but Akina's outstretched arm anchored her daughter protectively by her side.

"I can't." Mitsukai pouted. "I'm not supposed to talk to strangers."

"Who's at the door?" Kisho asked, appearing behind them. Mitsukai tensed up and the boy noticed this. He watched as she clenched her fists and stared at the floor.

"He wants to take Mitsukai somewhere. He said he was sent by the Boshoku." Akina turned to Kisho. Kisho's eyes lit up with hope.

"The organization that said they'd be back to take her? They've come back?" He pushed his way to the front. "We did the experiment on her, yeah. We've come to take her back; we want to check on her and see how she's been since we last examined her." The boy was amazingly still as he waited for the couple's response.

"No, I'm not sure we should just let her leave with some stran--"

"Take her. She's all yours." Kisho pushed Mitsukai towards the boy. She lost her balance and could feel herself beginning to fall. In a blur of black and red, her fall immediately stopped. She looked up to see the boy holding her by her shoulders, keeping her from falling.

"Watch it, Little One." He smiled. Mitsukai felt her cheeks grow hot with embarrassment.

"Thank you." She whispered as he righted her.

"Don't mention it. I can't let you hurt yourself, yeah."

"Kisho, stop being so rough with her. Mitsukai, get back here." Akina attempted to reach for the child but the boy quickly grabbed her wrist, moving so fast that his sleeve barely moved.

"Your debt was paid in full. She belongs to us now. You're lucky she's allowed to live with you." He let go of Akina's arm and looked down at Mitsukai, "Let's go, Little One."

Mitsukai looked back at her mother and father. The look on her dad's face was one of pure joy. Her mother appeared to be ready to cry. The boy lifted her up and put her on his back. Akina bit her lip as Kisho held her firmly in place. The boy turned to leave and Mitsukai looked over her shoulder, wondering if she would ever see her parents again.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

As he'd suggested, the boy stopped at an ice cream stand and bought her a vanilla ice cream cone. "Hurry and eat it so we can keep moving." He whispered. Mitsukai nodded and tried her best to hurry up. As soon as she was done, he put her back on his back and carried her along, knowing that her small legs would never match his long strides; it would take them longer to get back to the warehouse if they walked side by side.

He got to the door, opened it, and went inside. It was dark and extremely quiet. She clung to him tighter as he felt his way down the hallway, muttering curses about them being "able to do everything but it's a challenge to keep certain areas properly lit so people could at least watch where the hell they were going."

Finally they came to a large room with a table and he pulled out a big chair and placed her in it. She looked up at him with wide eyes and he gently patted the top of her head. "Relax, Little One."

She nodded and sat back in the seat. As long as the boy remained beside her, she was quiet and well-behaved. Soon, a man with red eyes and piercings all over his face came into the room and dismissed the boy. She watched him go with tearful eyes as fear immediately set in. "Noooo!" Her whining irked the man in such a way that he crossed the room quickly and grabbed her arm.

"Be quiet. There is no one here to baby you." He spoke to her in a no nonsense tone and immediately she got quiet; however the tears kept flowing and she began to hiccup cry silently, body shaking with each quiet sob. The man rolled his eyes and left the room, then came back with the boy. "Calm her down before I do it."

The boy rubbed Mitsukai's back and she lowered her balled up fists from her eyes to look at him. She instantly clung to his arm and cried, "Please don't leave me with him. He's scary."

The boy looked at the man then bit his lip to keep from laughing. "She has a point. You look like something out of a horror movie. You have to remember she's only five. In a year or two, you won't be as frightening, yeah."

"If I had wanted your opinion, I would have asked for it. In the meantime, please shut up." He walked around to the other side of the table. "I see there's no point in trying to explain this to her. She has a very short attention span." He nodded towards her and the boy looked down to see her eyeing his nails.

"Why are your nails painted? Will you paint mine?" She stood in the chair and reached for his headband. "What's that? Do I get one?"

The boy leaned away from her and asked the man, "So who gets to train with her first?"

The man closed his eyes for a minute then slowly opened them, "Right now, Deidara, it seems she would work best under your advising."Deidara's eyes widened. "Me?!"

The man sighed, "Until we can recruit more members or at least other ninja to train with her, you'll be her sensei for now. It's been five years and we just added a new member yesterday."

"Really? Who?"

"His name is Zetsu. I heard about him and decided to check him out. He's very talented; however, I worry about his mental state."

"Meaning...?"

"You'll understand what I mean when you meet him. He should be here tomorrow." The man began to pace the room slowly and Mitsukai watched him curiously. "I might pair him with you. Or put him with Kisame since you and the child have a close bond."

Deidara looked down at Mitsukai and fought a smile. Maybe he would make a miniature clay statue of her...He could use it to awe the people as they marveled at its beauty, then blast them all away. 'Art is a blast...' "So, do you plan to examine her now or--"

"I suppose I should. Let's go the training room." He turned and walked towards two double doors. Deidara lifted Mitsukai up and out of the chair.

"Come on, Little One." He motioned for her to follow him and she did, keeping no more than a few feet between them. He briefly wondered what her real name was but decided to not ask; their leader intended to distance her from her family as quickly as possible so that she could focus fully on her training. If they called her by the name she was given, she would remember them and miss them. But if they could effectively get her to let go of them, then it would be possible to change their location without her making such a fuss about it. He looked back at her and tried not to smile as he watched he skip happily behind him.

"What's your name?" She ran and tugged on his sleeve.

"Deidara." He tried to keep the answer short and show that he was not interested in a conversation at the moment but that didn't stop her.

"Deidara? Well, my name is--" With this he quickly covered her mouth.

"Ssh, Little One. No talking." He whispered.

"But don't you want to know my name?" She asked, voice muffled from his hand on her mouth. He quickly removed his hand and shook his head no. Her feelings appeared to be hurt but he managed to look indifferent. They continued to walk until they came to a huge room that had padded walls, like those found in any ordinary gym. Their leader stood behind Mitsukai and stared at her. She stood completely still as he circled her slowly, still staring at her. Once he had made a full circle around her, he turned away. "She's fine. Go ahead and start."

Deidara blinked a few times. "Start where?"

"It doesn't really matter to me. The basics, I guess." He walked back through the doors that they had come through. Deidara just stared.

"Well, that was helpful, yeah. Thank you." He muttered sarcastically then turned to Mitsukai. "Okay, how about we start with something basic? Shadow clones."

"Shadow clones? What's that?" Mitsukai tilted her head to the side and frowned. He shook his head.

"Oh, boy..."

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

It took him an hour just to get her to even focus her chakra for usage. However, once she tapped into it, she couldn't turn it off. Suddenly, she was consumed with gold chakra and it began to swirl around her, creating a fierce wind. Deidara had to shield his eyes to try to keep a visual of her.

"What's going on in here?" Deidara turned to see Kisame and Orochimaru come in.

"I told her to focus her chakra." He shrugged, beginning to lose his balance caused by the swirling chakra.

"This must be the first time she's ever tapped into the demon's chakra supply." Orochimaru squinted to see. "If we don't stop her, she could kill us all."

Their leader and Sasori entered the room with the same quizzical looks on their faces. Their leader looked at Mitsukai and he frowned. "The seal we put on her must not be strong enough."

"But you said it couldn't be too strong or she wouldn't have been able to use the Houkou's chakra at all." Sasori looked at him.

"That's true...But I'm sure that if we teach her to control the demon's chakra, then she will become as she is meant to be--a weapon capable of mass destruction." He turned to Kisame. "Kisame, take care of the excess chakra."

Kisame nodded and pulled his sword from its holster on his back. In order to get through the wind, he had to charge at Mitsukai and once he was close enough, took one slow swipe, diffusing the chakra. Mitsukai opened her eyes and looked up at him. He watched as tears ran down her cheeks and her eyes faded from the shade of a new gold ring back to deep blue. As soon as all the chakra was gone, she bent over struggling to catch her breath. Her eyes closed and she began to fall over, but Kisame caught her with one hand and picked her up, able to cradle her with one hand as he put his sword, Sharkskin, over his shoulder to return it to its place.

Their leader sighed. "We have a lot of training to do. If that will be the result we'll get every time she taps into her chakra...This will take longer than I first estimated. For now, each of you will train with her focusing solely on getting her able to control focus and control the chakra. When she can effectively control it, then I'll assign certain people a type of jutsu to teach her. In the meantime, Konan and I will focus on recruiting more members. Deidara, take her home."

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Akina all but ran to the door when she heard the first knock. She didn't see the boy carrying Mitsukai; she only saw her baby asleep on his back.

"What did you do to her?" She whispered as he allowed her to take Mitsukai off of his back.

"Nothing bad. She's just a little tired is all, yeah. I have something to discuss with you and your husband." He didn't smile. Akina nodded as she Mitsukai rested her head on her mother's shoulder, her face turned to Akina's neck. She stepped back and led the boy to the living room where Kisho was watching TV.

"Oh, God..." Kisho complained as Akina sat down with Mitsukai, "Did you have to bring her back?"

Deidara's eyebrows rose with surprise. When he had come to pick her up, he dismissed the way her father acted towards her. However, seeing it again made him pause. "You don't want her, yeah?"

"No, I don't and I would be grateful if you would keep her instead of just dropping by every now and then." Kisho folded his arms.

Deidara cleared his throat. "Well, we've decided to start her training as a kunoichi."

"Are you people still on that?" Kisho stood and chuckled. "I won't tell you how to spend your money but you are fools to insist she is worth something!"

Deidara blinked slowly three times before he decided to speak again. "We will send someone to collect her on days that the other academy students her age go to school, yeah. That way it will seem like she attends some sort of private school or has a private teacher. She will always be brought back around six in the evening." He turned and headed for the door.

"Nothing bad will happen to her, will it? Can I trust you to make sure she stays safe...doing whatever it is that you will have her to do?" Akina gently stroked Mitsukai's head.

"That I don't know for certain. I won't be the only one who will train with her--"

"Can you promise me that you will personally look after her? I understand what my husband has done but still she is my baby. I can't just let her go that easily. If I knew that someone else would care about her like I do...then I would be able to breathe just a bit easier." Akina's eyes pleaded for understanding.

Deidara looked away. This wasn't supposed to happen. Sasori said that all he had to do was tell them the circumstances and leave. Yet, he stood rooted where he was. He looked at Mitsukai and sighed. She, in so many ways, was like him. The only difference was that she had yet to learn her purpose for them. She was to become a weapon. A heartless, cold murderer that would help give the Akatsuki the additional power it needed to make itself known, meanwhile locating the other tailed beasts and help seal the stronger ones. She was nothing more than a mere tool to them; one that, with time and careful instruction, would become sharp enough to murder by thought alone. He knew what it was like to be alone. To be forced to do something against your own free will. With time he knew he would get used to being with the Akatsuki but it didn't help matters.

He finally brought his eyes up to Akina's and gave a slow nod. She sighed with relief then nodded as well. "So you'll return tomorrow then?"

"Yeah." He turned for the door.

"What exactly are you teaching her?" Kisho spoke up.

Deidara glanced over his shoulder without turning around, "If you ever find out, we would have to kill you." He disappeared out of the door.