Chapter Five: Burning Flames and the Voice Within

In the beginning, Mitsukai only trained with Deidara and another man named Kabuto. Deidara focused on ninjutsu and didn't even bother to continue with her taijutsu training because she was just that bad at it. Since she was only five years old, she physically wasn't made for it since she had very weak muscles which were needed to deliver the power behind the blows. He could have simply just made her exercise her muscles to build the tone needed, but Deidara didn't like the idea of a five year old possibly being able to flip him across the room. Besides, long range techniques were better for them both anyway.

Kabuto was found by Konan because of his expert skills with medical jutsu. Of course, it was practical for Mitsukai to learn it since none of the other members knew that particular kind of jutsu and it was likely it would be needed in the future when their plans were carried out. Kabuto was a Genin who had yet to pass the Chuunin exams for whatever reasons he had. The leader of the Akatsuki didn't ask; he only offered to pay Kabuto to teach the child what he knew. Kabuto accepted the money, but to him, the real bonus was meeting Mitsukai. She was a very charming little girl. When Mitsukai first met Kabuto in the training room, the first thing she said to him was "You're cute!"

Kabuto laughed, squatted down in order to be able to look her in the eyes, and touched her nose with the tip of his finger. "You are too. What's your name?"

"Mitsukai. Wha--"

She was cut off by Deidara covering his ears and screaming at the top of his lungs, as if he were in pain.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU ASK HER THAT FOR?!!!" He shouted then ran out of the room screaming. Kabuto and Mitsukai just stared at the door for a moment in confusion then Mitsukai turned back to Kabuto.

"What's your name?"

"Kabuto." He stood and pushed his glasses up on his nose. To be just a child, she had an acute interest in the things around her, always analyzing anything she could get her hands on. Because of this, Kabuto was sure that she could handle his favorite jutsu. "Want to learn something cool?"

Her blue eyes lit up with joy and she hopped up and down, "Yeah!"

He chuckled and looked over at Kisame, "Can you bring an agent in here? She'll need someone to practice on."

Kisame only nodded and left. Mitsukai ran around his legs excitedly, "What am I gonna learn? What will it do?" Kabuto reached down and held her in place.

He stared at her for a minute. "Have you had candy today?"

She nodded quickly, "Deidara-sensei gave me some. He said it would shut me up."

Kabuto sighed, "What an idiot." He turned and waited for Kisame. "Any one can look at you and tell that you're sensitive to any kind of caffeine."

Mitsukai looked up at him, tilted her head to the side and asked, "What's caffeine?"

"Something you definitely do not need in your new diet that I'm going to put you on." He shook his head. Kisame returned with a boy about Mitsukai's age, dressed in worn-out clothes.

"He's just a servant boy. Don't feel too bad if she accidentally kills him." Kisame sat back down in his chair and leaned his head back on the wall, preparing to doze off.

"Has she killed anyone yet?"

"Nope. Too sensitive to actually want to hurt someone." Kabuto looked at Mitsukai and realized it was the truth. She was too innocent to actually want to harm someone. "Well, let's get started. This jutsu is called Harmonic Tempo jutsu, and it puts your opponent to sleep..."

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

A few weeks after she first started training with Kabuto, Orochimaru was ordered to train with Mitsukai as well because she needed training on her physical speed. She moved too slow to effectively dodge any of Deidara and Kabuto's offensive attacks. Even when practicing with Sasori's agents she was often pinned to the ground rather quickly.

Orochimaru hated children, particularly this child because she was so giggly and had a very short attention span. If it weren't for their leader specifically telling him to, he would have been elsewhere when it came to his scheduled time with the brat. She asked too many questions at once, and didn't give him enough time to tell her to shut up between each one. Worse was her incredible ability to speak nearly sixty words a minute. He knew that if she could move as fast as she talked, then he wouldn't have to look at her. He had very little patience with her whenever he told her to focus her chakra and channel it into her feet. If she didn't do it fast enough, he would get angry and leave, telling Kisame he was done for the day.

One day Kisame had been called to do something else and wasn't able to monitor Mitsukai's chakra level. Orochimaru seized this opportunity to teach her an S-Ranked jutsu that he was sure they didn't want her to learn just yet.

"Come here, child." He ordered. She moved closer to him. He had to force himself to act as normal as possible to keep from scaring her, so he often bit his tongue to keep it in his mouth. This caused him to talk funny and at first Mitsukai always broke out in laughter but soon she got used to it and began to pay attention to him when he spoke. "I'm going to show you a new jutsu. I may need you to do it later when you get older."

He led her outside and told her to wait for him. He disappeared and came back minutes later with a rabbit that flailed around wildly. Her eyes lit up when he gave it to her. "Kill it."

Her eyes widened with horror. "Kill it?"

"Yes, kill it. Or I will. It makes no difference either way." His voice was soft yet it chilled her to the bone. She raised her hand to the rabbit's throat but stopped herself.

"I-I can't...I don't want to hurt it. I don't want to learn this jutsu..."

Orochimaru sighed. "Pitiful." He took the rabbit by its ears, pulled out a kunai and slit its throat. Blood gushed from the cut in spurts, spraying Mitsukai's white and blue top. She started to scream but he put a bloody hand over her mouth and told her to be quiet. She did as she was told but her eyes started to water up as she prepared to cry. He laid the dead animal at her feet and turned away, walking deeper into the forest. She stared at the rabbit. Its soft chocolate fur was now matted with dried blood. Its wide blue eyes were frozen open in fear, staring at nothing, looking straight ahead of it. She squatted down instead of kneeling to avoid her skirt from getting dirty and rubbed the rabbit's head.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Rabbit." She whispered, closing her eyes as more tears came.

"Stand up." She stood up quickly and turned to see Orochimaru behind her. He held another rabbit, this one golden yellow with white spots, in his hand by its ears. It was calmer than the first one. "I'm going to show you how to save the dead rabbit."

"You are?" She smiled at the thought of saving the pretty rabbit.

"There is a jutsu you can perform to revive someone who has died. There are special conditions that must be met. For example, the person's body who you want to bring back must be in fair condition when they died. It can't be too damaged or it won't work. Also, you must have a sacrifice."

She tilted her head to the side. "Sacrifice?"

"Yes, someone or something to replace it in death. There's a balance: for every person that dies, one is born. If you resurrect someone who has died, you must kill someone else to take that person's spot. Do you understand?"

She shook her head.

"Then I will show you." He gestured to the dead rabbit. "It's dead, isn't it?"

Mitsukai's smile faded. "Yes."

"This one is alive, right?"

She nodded.

"I'm going to show you how to make it live again by killing the living one." He held his hands up and slowly did the required hand signs, repeating the name of the hand sign for Mitsukai's sake. "Tiger, snake, dog, dragon, and then you clap once."

The living rabbit promptly dropped dead and seconds later the chocolate bunny twitched and sat up right, hopping away. Mitsukai's eyes were wide with awe. "Wow." She looked back at the other bunny and frowned. "Why isn't he moving?"

"Did you miss that whole explanation I just gave?" He asked in annoyance.

"No. Tiger, snake, dog, dragon. Clap once." She repeated. He smiled; she was a quick study. Although she didn't have a clue as to what she was doing, all that mattered to him was the fact that she could do it. He went to find a black rabbit and returned.

"Now it's your turn. You do it." He smiled evilly. She squatted down and placed the rabbit next to the dead one.She focused her chakra like he had told her to do, then slowly did the signs. "Tiger, snake, dog, dragon. Clap once." She looked down and waited. Nearly two minutes passed and the rabbit still hadn't moved. To make matters even worse, Orochimaru noted that the third rabbit he had caught was dead as well. He turned, frustrated. "Let's go. Apparently my Impure World Resurrection jutsu is too advanced for your simple mind." He mumbled walking back to the building. Mitsukai glanced at the rabbits again then ran to catch up with him.Right as they reached the door and went inside, the golden rabbit shot up and ran off into the forest, leaving its sister behind.

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

After six months, her growth was astounding. She had learned to use chakra to move faster, could control it, and even use it walk up the walls. Their leader was pleased with her abilities and they all learned that if she was given candy after each training session, she was easier to control and was a better student. It was apparent that with her photographic memory, they only had to tell her the hand signs for a particular jutsu only once, and she would remember it. However, if she ate the candy that Deidara often gave her behind everyone's backs, then she had to be told more than ten times before she was able to remember and do it correctly. The leader decided that they needed a variety of people for her to train against in order to observe different fighting styles and prepare for anything. They brought in different people from anywhere, who was willing to make money for fighting what they believed to be an ordinary five year old. While he watching Deidara and Mitsukai fight, Konan approached Paine.

"I've located someone worth taking a look at." She waited until he looked at her to continue. "He's more talented than the members we have now. The only problem is that he's only seven."

"Age does not matter." He gestured to Mitsukai who was dodging Deidara's punches fairly well, until he tripped her. "The younger, the easier it is to control them. Besides, Deidara was only eight when we recruited him. He acts like his life would be so much better without us. Without us, he'd still be roaming around by himself, blowing up random objects."

"I said this one is stronger. You won't be able to send Sasori and Orochimaru after him. He's very talented. It would be best if you just approached him with an invitation."

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

Days after her first session with Orochimaru, Deidara carried Mitsukai on his back, mad at the world. He wanted nothing more than to leave the Akatsuki now. How could they boast their greatness if they had to go by Boshoku in public to "prevent others from learning about them"? It made no sense to him and contradicted everything they had told him when they dragged him into their world.

Mitsukai was talking a mile a minute about the jutsu she had finally mastered, the shadow clone technique. "Deidara-sensei, may I show my mother what I learned today?"

He snapped out of his mental rant. "Huh? Oh, sure. Yeah. Whatever pleases you."

"Okay!" She smiled broadly and began to bounce on his back.

"Mitsukai, please don't do that." He complained. She froze and looked at the back of his head.

"Deidara-sensei, you said my name." She spoke quietly. His eyes widened then quickly narrowed in anger.

"If Kabuto had never asked you what your name was I still wouldn't know it."

"So it's a good thing that he asked right?"

"...No. It's bad enough I'm getting attached to you." He spoke slowly and carefully, picking his words with care. "Now that I know your name...it'll be very hard to part with you later, yeah. I was trying to keep you as far away as possible. It was working until your mother convinced me to make that promise and now...you're special to me. Out of everyone, I'd rather spend time with you...because you don't force me to do things I don't want to. They do the same to you, too. Maybe one day, you and I can free ourselves from this. What do you think?"

"It'll all be okay one day." She replied looking up at the sky. He wasn't sure if the girl had even been listening but he didn't care. She was right. He knocked on the door and her mother came to it.

"Hello, there."

"Hi, mommy." Mitsukai smiled as Deidara put her down. "Bye, Deidara-sensei."

"See you tomorrow, Mitsukai." He smiled and waved, then turned to leave. For the first time ever, Mitsukai thought she saw a mouth in the center of his palm. She quickly forgot about it when she turned to her mother.

"Mommy, do you want to know what I learned today with Deidara-sensei?" Mitsukai asked.

Akina's eyes widened. "Are you allowed to show me?"

"Uh-huh. Deidara-sensei said I could." Mitsukai nodded. Akina grabbed the child by the hand and led her into the living room. Kisho was seated on a pillow in the middle of the floor, oil lamps and candles lit around the room very close to him.

"Kisho, she's going to show us something they've taught her today!" Akina whispered urgently, knowing that he was never to be interrupted during his meditation. Surprisingly, his eyes popped open and he looked at them with honest interest.

"Really?" He waited and Akina nodded. "Well, let's see it then!" He and Akina scrambled for the couch after removing the pillow and placing Mitsukai in the spot where he had been seated. She became nervous knowing that her dad, whom had until now, believed that she only existed in his head and had made a point to pop aspirin in front of her to simulate taking medication for his "illusions". He leaned forward. "Go ahead, Mitsukai." His voice was gentle and his expression was one of love and encouragement. She tried to convince herself that he was only acting this way to see what she would do, but deep down inside she wanted his acceptance more than anything else. She nodded and held up her hands.

"Shadow clone jutsu!" Her hands were shaking so hard from nervousness that somehow, she confused the hand signs required to perform it with Kabuto's Harmonic Tempo technique. She watched in horror as her parents fell limp, and then began to snore. "No."

Trying not to panic, she thought hard about the release sign. She knew the name for it, but the hand sign wouldn't appear in her mind like every other jutsu did when she wanted to do it. She spun around quickly and knocked over a stand of Kisho's oil lamps. Oil sprayed across the room and as a result, everything caught on fire. Mitsukai screamed then looked at her parents, who were still sleeping. By the time it had occurred to her to go find help, the fire had reached the front door and the flames had reached everything around her in a thirteen foot radius...and it was reaching for her parents.

"No!!!" She ran over to them and shook them violently, screaming for them to wake up. But they wouldn't. Smoke blackened the air and it became harder for Mitsukai to breathe. Her movements started to slow down as the lack of clean air made her feel faint.

'Foolish child,' she heard a deep voice whisper inside of her head, 'How can you worry about others when your own life is in peril? You cannot save them. You must save yourself...or you will kill us both.'

She closed her eyes. Suddenly, a cool clean breeze blew on her cheek and when she opened her eyes, she saw her home in flames. Tears blurred her vision and her throat became tight and dry. She lost her ability to form words as she watched the neighbors surround the house, attempting to put out the flames. Her wide eyes captured every detail in heartbreaking slow seconds. Every detail of the flames burned into the back of her head and she pictured her parents sitting on the couch, as flames slowly melted off their skin. People rushed past her, shouting things her deaf ears could not hear. All she could hear was the violent roar of the flames as wood splintered and cracked from the heat.

'Run...'

She shook her head. How could she leave? Her parents needed her. They needed her help. She tried to move her feet but they didn't budge.

'Run...run away...'

Tears drenched her cheeks as the roof caved in and the flames jumped even higher than before. People around her screamed in fear and more people rushed to help. This was all her fault. Had she not been so nervous...Had she not wanted to show off...had she not been born like her father had said so many times...

'RUN!'

The voice barked. Gold eyes appeared in her mind along with the canines of a dog, causing her to jump in fear then turn and run away from her the blazing inferno she once called home. Her short legs and tiny feet carried her quickly through the village and out to the forest that surrounded it. About five minutes into the village, she felt light-headed and passed out from exhaustion.

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

Sasori was tuning the joints on one of his puppets when two of his agents rushed in.

"Master Sasori, the Jinchurriki's home has burned down!"

Sasori looked at him then realized who he was talking about. "What happened?"

"No one knows for sure but her parents are dead...and she's missing." The other one responded calmly. Sasori stood up. He said nothing as he brushed past them and walked down the corridor. He almost ran into Deidara on the way.

"Whoa! Where's the fire, yeah?" He smiled.

"Mitsukai's house." Sasori replied, not at all amused. Deidara frowned.

"Huh?"

"Just come with me. Where's Leader-sama?"

"In his room. Why--"

"Just come on!" Sasori muttered and the two of them continued to walk. As predicted, he was in his room. He stepped out into the hall.

"Yes?"

"Mitsukai's house just burned down and her parents are dead. She's missing." Sasori spoke evenly.

He just stared for a moment then it finally dawned on him what Sasori had said.

"What happened?" He asked.

"No one knows yet."

"Get everyone out there. Sasori, find out what happened. Everyone else, spread out and look for her. We've spent too much time on her to just let go now." He said sternly. "I'll go get Konan and have her search too."

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

Orochimaru was missing, but everyone else was accounted for. Sasori went straight to the house with his agents to find out what happened. Zetsu said he would start on the east side of the village and check out the forest in that area. Kisame said he'd go through the village. Deidara made a clay bird and said he'd look from the sky. Hidan said nothing but chose to go through the village with Kisame, so they could start on opposite points and meet in the center.

"Do you have anything yet?" Their leader paced the floor.

Konan looked up, "No."

"Unbelievable." He paused. "And where is Orochimaru?"

"That I don't know either. But he's not too far...Why? Do you suspect he has something to do with the fire?"

"I suspect a lot about him. But I doubt he'd be willing to cross me."

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

She woke up soaking wet from the rain. It was dark and she had no idea where she was or how she got there. She thought about it. She didn't even know who she was. The only clear thing she could remember where figures in black cloaks with red clouds. She stood shakily and looked around. There wasn't a clear direction to go. With no sense of direction, she decided to just go forward. Thunder clapped and lightning lit up the sky, and she was afraid. Her hair became matted with mud as she continuously slipped and fell in the mud.

After an hour she was hungry and thirsty. She felt like she was missing something, like she had forgotten something very important. Her chest felt heavy with sorrow, yet she didn't know why or what it was. She began to get colder and colder as her clothes became heavy with rainwater. Soon she had the chills. The cold began to seep down to her bones and soon she was unable to walk. She crouched down and fell into a sitting position against a tree. She was all alone...with no one to come for her...

The hunger pains became stronger and she began to cry. She was tired, cold, hungry, alone...and above all, she felt like she had lost something that had meant the world to her. Something was missing in her life, but she didn't know what it was. She felt dizzy again and tried to keep herself from falling over. In the end, she lost the battle and passed out.

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

A figure peeled itself from a nearby tree and looked around. Its eyes scanned the forest and halted when it spotted a little girl lying on the muddy ground at the base of a tree.

"Well, well, well...food." The darker side of it whispered with an evil grin.

"No, not food. This is the girl everyone's looking for." The lighter side scolded.

"I'm hungry. It's been a while since I've tasted human--"

"No! That's not what she's for. After this, I'll ask Sasori if he'll lend one of his agents to feed you." Zetsu whispered to himself. "But first let's signal Deidara."

Zetsu melted into a nearby tree; he then stood on top of it. The huge clay bird was just making a circle back when Deidara spotted Zetsu's odd shape on top of a tree. He flew down and jumped off of the bird.

"She's at the base of this tree." Zetsu whispered before disappearing. Deidara jumped down quickly and found the little girl, almost unrecognizable. Usually very tidy in appearance, she now was covered in mud. He reached down to pick her up and her skin was as cold as ice. He immediately checked to make sure she still had a pulse. He was relieved when she stirred under his touch. The rain had slowed to a drizzle so he took off his cloak and wrapped the little girl in it to try to keep her warm until he could get her back to the warehouse. He lifted her up, and held her close as he jumped back up the tree and onto his beautiful bird. Instead of standing, he chose to sit down with his package, not wanting to take the chance of hurting her.

At Boshoku headquarters, Kabuto examined her thoroughly. "She's fine," He leaned back and sighed. "Just extremely tired from the amount of chakra she used to run, dehydration, and not eating. She needs to sleep, wake up and drink plenty of fluids, eat something, and she should be fine."

"The question is if she's going to wake up or not." The leader asked impatiently.

"I don't see any trauma to her head." Kabuto looked. He held up two fingers on both sides of her head and a blue light emitted from his fingers. After a few minutes, her eyes fluttered opened and she looked around the room. At first she panicked until she saw a man wearing a black cloak with red clouds.

"Are you okay?" Kabuto asked, running a hand over her forehead to brush back her platinum blonde bangs. She nodded.

"What happened?" He asked. She gave a puzzled look, and then settled on a slow shrug.

Kabuto looked up at others. "I don't think she remembers."

"No, you think?" Deidara sighed. He crossed the room and looked down at her. "Who am I?"

She didn't answer. She looked around at everyone in the room then her eyes finally settled back on him.

"Do you know who I am?"

She nodded.

"Okay then tell me."

She shook her head.

"I give up. Call me when she starts to speak, yeah." He turned and left out of the room.

"Kabuto? What's wrong with her?" The leader asked.

"I'm not sure...she may stay like this for another day, week, year...or the rest of her life. It depends. However, I do believe it's related to mental trauma. She doesn't remember anything outside of us...I'd say that if it's related to anything that could remind her of her parents...she's blocked it out. I've seen this before in shinobi who come back from war." He looked up at them. "In a sense, we're all she knows."

The expression on their leader's face scared them all. It looked like he was...happy. "So, she doesn't remember anything? Anything we tell her she'll consider it to be true?"

"I guess you could say that--"

"Then from this day forward, no one is to mention her parents, her past, or even call her by old name. We have the opportunity to erase all of that and mold her into the weapon we need her to be. Without her memory, she no longer knows of innocence and won't hesitate to kill." He moved closer to her. "Finally, years of waiting and now I finally get my reward. You new name will be...Shikyo."

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

Without her memory, her short attention span and curiosity for things around her disappeared, and Shikyo was able to concentrate and give her sensei her undivided attention. She had stopped speaking entirely, and instead chose to nod, shake her head, shrug, or her personal favorite, ignore the question or statement altogether. This often pissed Deidara off but inwardly, he felt bad for the kid. She had no recollection of who she had been before and he missed her. She used to laugh, giggle, and smile when she was around him, and now she chose to stare at some unknown point of the wall. She had become extremely obedient for a five year old and he did like that--no one ever had to tell her anything twice. With Kabuto's help, she was able to learn how to fight offensively and defensively. Her little fists actually stung a bit when she first fought Deidara and hit him in the jaw; as a result, he made up the excuse that he needed to go lay down since he wasn't feeling too good. In reality, he just didn't want to find out if she was able to flip him across the room yet.

Her jutsu skills sharpened considerably. With Deidara, she finally learned a few taijutsu moves but she still was a better long ranger fighter, so he taught her more techniques in that category. He showed her substitution and clone techniques which she mastered with ease.When she turned six, Kabuto showed her a chakra absorption technique that would come in handy for immobilizing an opponent. In order to perfect these new techniques, she was required to battle random ninjas everyday. At first she had trouble even being in the same room with these new people, but once Deidara and Kabuto convinced her it was okay, she always got down to business.They trained her to fight as if her life was on the line in every battle, and as a result, she ended up killing some of her opponents. At first she would use her speed and sneak up on them and stab them with a kunai in the throat like Orochimaru had shown her once with the rabbits. Soon she simply used her speed and the chakra absorption technique and then finished them off with a kunai.

It was astounding to them to see a little girl improve so much in a matter of months. Shikyo began to isolate herself from them. With every kill, she lost another piece of herself that she didn't even remember in the first place. They didn't realize [although it applied to them as well that killing can be addictive. The first time is always an accident, or either that rationalized in the murderer's head that it was necessary. After that, killing becomes easier and easier because all that is needed is a good reason in that person's head.

Shikyo had no problem with taking a life if her mentors deemed it necessary. She developed a brutal fighting style, using her innocent look to fool the opponent, and then killing them when they let their guard down.

"I heard she just killed another ninja. We'll have to leave this village soon; the people are beginning to get suspicious." Konan looked at him.

Paine stared out the window at the rain. It had been fun while it lasted. "And where do you suggest we go?"

Konan got quiet.

"Exactly. I've been thinking of places we could go but I'm not sure if we should move her around just yet. She may try to escape us. With her speed and skills, she could easily get away unless she stays with Kisame at all times; only his Sharkskin is able to control her chakra."

"I'm concerned that no one has been teaching her Genjutsu." Konan replied, "That is to be her most powerful offense yet I'm sure she doesn't know anything about it."

"We need to find a Genjutsu specialist then." Paine concluded.

"There is a very talented ninja in the Hidden Leaf village. They describe him as a 'Prodigy'. A genius of some sort."

"How so?"

"He graduated from the village Academy in less than a year. He's only eight years old and he's already a Genin."

"Hmm...eight? We could recruit him as we did with Deidara." Paine turned to her. "What's his name?"

"Itachi Uchiha."