15. The Legacy of a Soshigan Ninja

Yuki sat on the bed in the hotel waiting for Naruto to come back from his training with Jiraiya. While she waited she pulled out a box of matches that she had recently bought. Jiraiya told her to practice her Soshigan by trying to control the sparks before they ignited the matchstick. Yuki had been trying for days and it was already a week since they left the village. This is hopeless! She complained. The fire ignites the stick way too quickly for me to catch a spark. Frustrated, she left the hotel and began to walk around the town for a little bit. It was Yuki's first time in a tourist town so she was just enjoying the company of new people. Sometimes, though, she would stop and wonder how everyone back in Konoha was doing. Yuki decided to take a small break and found a quite place by a tree to rest for a small while. When she reached the tree she discovered a beautiful view of the countryside and as the sun went down, the different colors of the sky reflected on the small river flowing through the landscape.

I wish Sasuke was here. She smiled. This place would defiantly get his mind off of Itachi. She sat down and wrapped her arms around her legs as she set her chin on her knees. The evening birds began to sing and Yuki's heart was so peaceful that she nearly fell asleep. As she closed her eyes, she could feel her chakra begin to communicate with the energy of the tree she leaned against. She noticed a small spider trying to land on the tree as it glided through the air. Curious, Yuki summoned her Soshigan and allowed her chakra to flow into that of the tree and she forced the tree to make a shield out of its own energy. The shield caused the spider to bounce off of the tree like a trampoline. Yuki opened her eyes with astonishment. I manipulated the tree's chakra! She thought excited. How did I do that? Yuki did it again and discovered that by touching the tree, she was able to allow her chakra to flow through the tree and use it to her will. While she did this, she experimented with their chakra by removing her hand during the process. The chakra flow was immediately cut off and the tree was itself again. So I can only control the Earth elements if I touch them. She remembered when the Sand shinobi attacked and she called upon the trees to attack the fleeing enemies. My feet were touching the ground and through that I must have manipulated the trees to do my will.

Yuki quickly got up and ran back to the hotel to try the match again. Naruto was back and training by himself again on his bed. "What's wrong?" he asked startled when Yuki charged in.

"I think I figured something out!" She said. She walked to her nightstand and pulled out the matches again. Naruto jumped onto her bed and watched closely as Yuki summoned her Soshigan once more. She focused her energy into the matchstick and, since the small piece of wood had almost no chakra, Yuki invaded the small space and created a shield with her own chakra. When the match struck the friction of the pad caught Yuki's chakra on fire instead of the stick. This allowed Yuki to use her other hand and she held the small ball of flame in mid air. Naruto looked at her amazed. "That's so cool, Yuki!" Naruto cheered.

"Tell me about it!" she said. "This is the first time bending fire like this. Maybe I can try something." Yuki took a deep breath and tried to remember Kakashi's hand movements for his Water Dragon Jutsu. If I just make a few fire-type hand signs instead of aquatic then maybe… Yuki used one hand to hold the fire and did her best to try and use one hand to make hand signs. When she finished the fire flickered and went out.

"Damn it." Cursed Yuki disappointed.

"What were you trying to do?" asked Naruto.

"I just wanted to try a made up jutsu." She smiled. "I need both hands to do it though so I'm not sure how to do it."

"Let's asked Purvey Sage!" said Naruto. "He'd probably know."

A knock came at the door before Naruto could even stand up. Yuki looked at the clock and noticed that it was only six o'clock in the evening. Jiraiya usually shows up really late at night. She remembered. Her eyes suddenly went wide and Yuki shouted, "Naruto, don't open that-!"

Naruto opened the door and both of them saw two visitors in black robes with red clouds on them. Yuki recognized one of them immediately and shouted, "Naruto beat it!! Run for your life!!"

"What?" said Naruto now white with fear.

"Get away from the damn door!" Yuki ran over to him and pulled him by his collar to get him away from the men.

"Naruto Uzumaki and Yuki Hatake," said the younger one. "You two will come with us."

Shit! Thought Yuki. This has to be Itachi Uchiha. Yuki finally got an idea as both began to stand. "Naruto." Yuki whispered. "We have to run separate ways. They can't catch both of us that way."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"They're obviously trying to take us away." She told him. "We have to outrun them and find Jiraiya-sama."

Naruto gulped and said, "Okay."

"I'll jump out of the window." Yuki said backing up slightly. "I can control the wind enough so I won't get hurt. You run past them as fast as you can. We'll both meet outside and find Jiraiya."

"Okay." Said Naruto. "On three – One, Two…"

"What are you two planning?" the blue one asked. "Don't cause trouble for us okay? We want this to end just as quickly as you do."

"Then let's end this!" Yuki smiled. "Go, Naruto!!!" Naruto darted toward the door, shoving Itachi as he ran. Itachi turned to Yuki as she burst through the glass and used her Soshigan to gently glide down to the street. "Damn." Said Kisame. "This is going to be troublesome too."

"Don't worry about it." Said Itachi. "Just focus on the Nine-tailed fox for now."

Yuki ran around to the front of the hotel but Naruto was not there yet. As she looked around, she could hear a small boy call out her name. The voice sounded familiar but she could not place her finger on where she heard it.

"Down here!" Yuki looked down and found Yoru at her feet.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"You and Naruto are in huge trouble!" he answered.

"Tell me about it!" Yuki showed him her arms from when she jumped out of the window. They were scratched and bleeding quite a bit.

"They're here already?" hissed Yoru. "Where's Jiraiya? Is he here yet?"

"Not yet." Said Yuki. Her eyes suddenly grew wide. "Damn it! Naruto!!" She turned and began to run back toward the building.

"Yuki!" yelled Yoru. "What are you doing?"

"Naruto hasn't come out yet! He might be in trouble! I gotta save him!"

"You can't, Yuki!" Yoru hissed. "Those guys are extremely dangerous ninja!"

"So what should I do?!" Yuki turned around angrily at Yoru. "Do you want me to abandon him?! Screw that!"

"I already sent Jiraiya in!" Yoru hissed. "Your safety is what Kakashi and Kocha wished for and that's why I'm here!"

"Kakashi and Kocha?" Yuki's face turned puzzled. "What happened?"

"Those same ninja attacked the village a few days ago." Yoru said. "Itachi caught Kakashi in a strange gen-jutsu and Kocha…Kocha used a lot of chakra during the battle."

"Itachi injured my father!" Yuki was now beyond angry. Now she wanted to rip out Itachi's eyes and reap her vengeance. "Now, he's dead!" As Yuki turned around a large explosion occurred on the side of the building. When the smoke cleared Yuki could see Sasuke and Itachi staring each other down. As soon as she saw them they were gone within seconds. "Great." She said. "Now Sasuke's in danger! What the hell is going on here?"

"Let's just run for it!" said Yoru. "I told Jiraiya that we'd meet him by the gate. Don't worry about them. Itachi and Kisame wouldn't dare take on a Sanin."

"You'd better be right." Said Yuki painfully turning away. The two of them took off toward the village entrance. As they ran Yuki heard another explosion. She turned her head and found not two but three figures fleeing the city. Where did the third one come from? Yuki wondered.

Yoru stopped just outside of the village and began to smell the ground. "We'll wait for them here." He told her. "They shouldn't be long."

Yoru was correct. After a few short minutes Jiraiya, Naruto, and Gai, who carried Sasuke over his shoulder, came running toward them. "Naruto!" said Yuki. "What happened to Sasuke?"

"I don't know." Said Naruto ashamed. "But, whatever Itachi did to him, he did the same thing to Kakashi-sensei."

"So I heard." Said Yuki.

"Kakashi will be fine." Said Gai. "As long as he knows that all three of you are safe then he should be back to normal in no time."

"At any rate," said Jiraiya. "We need to discuss what to do from here on out."

"I'll take Sasuke back to the village." Said Gai. "It would probably be best if either Yuki or Naruto came with me as well; that way you don't have too many to look out for."

Jiraiya thought for a long while. "I've worked with Naruto quite a bit but Yuki is a tough one. I'm not skilled with any techniques related to her Soshigan."

"Then, what was that you were trying to make me do all week?" asked Yuki frustrated.

"Kocha grew up with you didn't she?" asked Jiraiya. "She would know more about your abilities than I do."

"I don't know if that will work." Said Gai. "Kocha put on quite a show during our battle with the Akatsuki."

"What happened to Kocha-sensei?" asked Naruto.

Yuki automatically knew what Kocha had done. "She didn't change did she?!" Yuki asked.

"Change?" asked Gai. "So you knew about this?"

"She showed it to me once when I was really little." Yuki began to remember their session together.

"Hey Yuki!" called Kocha. "I wanna show you something really neat!"

"What is it?" asked little Yuki. She began to follow the seventeen year old Kocha into the woods behind her house. Yuki was careful not to rip her new dress that her mother had just made for her. "Is it another gootsoo?"

"No." Kocha laughed. "And it's pronounced, joo-t-sue."

"Oh!" said Yuki. "Sorry. I'm only five years old you know. Give me a break!"

"I know!" Kocha laughed again. Kocha stopped in a wide open area surrounded by tree stumps. "Don't be afraid of me, Yuki. That's why I trust you to see this." Kocha took a deep breath and white chakra began to spill out of her body. Yuki watched in wonder as her best friend grew angel wings and a silver, scaly, tail. When her transformation was over Yuki stared into the glowing eyes of the new Kocha.

"I've never shown this to anyone." Kocha admitted. "You're the first person ever."

"Why?" asked Yuki curiously.

"Because, I didn't want them to treat me differently. I didn't want people to think that I was a monster."

"You're not a monster, Kocha!" Yuki ran over and wrapped her tiny arms around Kocha's waist. "You're a guardian angel sent to me! Mommy told me that one day my angel would appear to show that I was never alone! You're that angel, Kocha!"

Kocha's eyes began to well up with tears as she knelt down to hug Yuki. "Thank you, Yuki. I will be your guardian angel from now on."

"Yuki?" asked Naruto snapping her out of her trance.

"What?" she asked a little annoyed.

"Will you go with Gai or do you wish to stay with Naruto?" asked Jiraiya. "Just so you know; I can't really train you as much as I can with Naruto."

"Then, I'll go with Gai-sensei." Yuki said. "I'm sorry, Naruto."

"Don't be." Naruto shook his head. "You just make sure everyone recovers okay for me."

"You got it!" Yuki gave him a thumbs-up and left with Gai and Yoru.

It took them three days to reach the village and once they did, Gai led Yuki to the hospital to check in Sasuke while Yoru ran back to Kakashi's house to announce their arrival. Once they were done, Gai led her back to the house to check on Kakashi and Kocha. Gai knocked on the door and Kocha opened the door. She looked as normal as ever, even though she did not have her trench coat on. "Yuki!" Kocha immediately wrapped her arms around her.

"Eh, Kocha?" Yuki was a little embarrassed. "I'm a ninja so you should expect things like this."

"I know." Kocha laughed. "I guess this village has gotten to me."

"I'll say." Yuki laughed. "You used to be a bitch."

"What?" Kocha's eyes began to glow in anger.

"How's Kakashi?" Gai asked changing the subject.

"He still hasn't awoken." Kocha moved her body to let them in. Yuki saw Yoru on top of Kakashi's chest with a sad look on his face. He lay down his head and slowly wagged his furry tail. Yuki ran over to them to get a closer look at her father. What happened to you? She wondered. "Hey." She called to him. "Hey! Wake up, Old Man!!" She lifted his eyelid to see if he was still alive. "You're not dead, are you?"

"Yuki!" scolded Kocha. "Let him rest!"

"This is bull crap!" Yuki complained. "I should be out there getting the guy that did this! He did the same thing to Sasuke!" Kocha's eyes grew wide at the news. Now Yuki felt her pain as well.

"I've got to check on the village." Said Gai. "I guess I'll leave you three alone for now."

"Thank you, Gai-kun." Kocha bowed as Gai left. Kocha shut the door and walked over to Yuki. Yuki was now sitting on a chair near Kakashi's bedside staring at him sadly. "This isn't fair." Yuki sulked. "I need to be out there trying to find Itachi and beat the crap out of him."

"There's no need to be reckless, Yuki." Said Kocha. "The Akatsuki are a dangerous group and must be met with caution. Having a member with a Sharingan this powerful worries me." Yuki looked up at Kocha with wide eyes. Yuki knew that if Kocha was scared of something or someone then, that thing must have good reason to be feared. After a while Yuki asked, "Gai-sensei told me that you transformed. Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine." Said Kocha. "I said that I'd be your guardian angel didn't I?"

"Yeah." Yuki smiled a bit.

After a long silence, that was soon filled with Yoru's purring from sleep, Kocha asked, "Why did you return from Jiraiya's training?"

"He said that I should ask you about training." Yuki answered. "Do you know about the Soshigan."

"Yes." Kocha answered. "As soon as I knew about your ability I looked into it. Your mother even taught me about it."

"My mom?" Yuki was now hooked. "If she taught you then why didn't she teach me?"

"You were too young." Kocha said. "She told me that she was going to wait until you were thirteen years old. For some reason, though, she told me that she was going to tell me everything about it because she felt something ominous."

"Wow." Yuki felt a sinking feeling in her heart. "Was my mom a fortune teller?"

"She was powerful in many ways." Kocha smiled.

"Does this mean that you can teach me?"

"We'll start now, if you like."

"Hell yeah!"

"Alright." Kocha and Yuki both kneeled onto the wooden floor. "What all did Jiraiya teach you?"

"He was teaching me to manipulate fire." Yuki answered pulling out her matches. "I managed to grab the fire before it ignited the stick but that's as far as I got."

"You did that in a week?" said Kocha shocked.

"Less than that!" Yuki said proudly.

"This may work out." Kocha smiled. "Have you tried applying that fire to any jutsu?"

"I don't think I can." Said Yuki. "I tried but I couldn't use both hands."

"That's the trick." Kocha said. "You don't use your hands. Instead, use your mind to create the hand signs."

"Can that be done?" Yuki asked in awe.

"Your mother was able to. Now, try it. Grab the fire and try to use a jutsu, any kind, and have the fire perform it."

Yuki summoned her Soshigan and managed to grab the fire after the fifth try. Once she held the fire, she imagined her hands making the hand signs for the Water Dragon jutsu. Once she completed the hand signs she felt a strange power flow through her. It was warm, strong, and brave. It was the same feeling she felt when she was around Naruto and Kakashi. When the feeling made her feel like she was ready to burst she shouted, "Fire Arte: Pyro Dragon Jutsu!" The small flame burst into a gigantic dragon and threatened to destroy the whole house but Yuki noticed something strange. The large fire dragon was being contained in a sphere of strange energy. Five small, blue, chakra dragons were going around the fire entity in circles creating a sphere to contain the magical beast. Kocha had her palms extended out and her eyes were closed as she focused her chakra on Yuki's dragon.

Yuki saw this and dispelled her dragon. Kocha dispelled the barrier as well and smiled saying, "Well done, Yuki." Yuki felt a great sense of pride in her ability.

"What was that jutsu you used?" Yuki asked.

"It was a spiritual barrier that I created." Kocha told her. "My special ability allows my chakra to take on the form of a dragon thus giving it, somewhat, a life of its own."

"That's amazing!" said Yuki.

"Enough about that," said Kocha. "We must continue your training until Naruto returns."