Disclaimer: As per usual, Macdutton does not own Naruto or Bleach.
Kazama Tower, 7am
"OH FUCK!" The scream was heard all through the tower, echoing up and down corridors and stairwells. "Anko!"
Outside the room, the purple haired mistress of serpents was rolling around on the floor of the kitchen, cackling like the maniac many thought her to be.
Just then, her sister stormed out of her bedroom, glowering and leaking bloodlust. "Bitch, I'm going to kill you."
Anko ignored the threat, choking out a sentence between peals of laughter, "You really don't have time for that, Princess."
"SHIT! I'll get you for this Anko!" Torahime yelled as she sprinted for the shower.
Anko slowly calmed down, then went to replace the batteries she stole from her younger sister's alarm clock. "Hehe, so damn worth it," she giggled before returning to the kitchen to start making breakfast for the redhead. They might be a crazy family who mercilessly played tricks on each other, but they looked after each other.
In the bathroom, Torahime was looking at herself in the mirror, thinking about how things had changed in the past year.
Flashback
"Torahime, could I have a word please?" Kurenai caught the redhead before she left after class, about a week into the Academy year.
"Sure, what's up Sensei?" Torahime asked, slightly wary.
"I want to ask you about some things Iruka mentioned," Kurenai spoke cryptically once the other students had cleared the room and the door had closed.
Looking towards her male teacher, the young girl wondered what Iruka could have known that couldn't be shared with the class.
"I worked with your father, Torahime. I know a little about what skills you may possess, or come to possess," Iruka told her quietly. "He said something about Dancing Shadows, which I'm guessing is a Taijutsu style, because he called his Taijutsu Kaze no Mai. He also mentioned Uzuton."
Torahime stiffened at his words, becoming very wary, ready to flee in an instant.
"Torahime, we just want to understand what these things are, and how we can help you develop and harness them. We both want you to become as skilled as possible," Kurenai quietly reassured her, having noted that the girl had dropped into a stance suited to either flight or attack. Along with the preparation for a fight, she noticed a faint… unravelling around her left side. Almost like chakra strings were loosening.
Forcibly calming herself, the orange haired girl moved to sit on a desk, turning her left side slightly away from her two teachers.
"I guess I can explain the broad strokes. Do… do either of you know much about the clans?" She spoke slowly, hesitantly.
"I know a little," Iruka told her, while Kurenai simply shook her head.
"Alright. Basically, there were four clans from Uzu. The Uzumaki and their vassal clans, Uzuki and Namikaze. These were the founding clans of Uzushiogakure no Sato. Kazama was a separate entity, allied to Uzushiogakure through blood and treaties. Many lived outside the village however.
"The history of the Uzumaki, Uzuki and Namikaze is not mine to tell, although I can say that they come from a common root, the Kyuubi no Kitsune. The Kazama clan were different. Our root lies with the Tigers. We are still tied to them more closely than ever two clans have been tied. Through that bond, we have gained a powerful link with nature, specifically the winds and shadows, the elements that tigers embody.
"Part of our blood is a deep link with the shadows. The secret style of our clan is called Kage no Mai, the Dance of Shadows. Less than half of us are capable of using it though, which is one of the reasons it remains so unknown. We own the shadows in a way no Nara ever could.
"You next asked about Uzuton. The Uzumaki bloodline, it crops up once in a couple of generations. I won't tell you much, beyond that it is incredibly destructive and very dangerous. Anything else, while I'm spilling all my country's secrets?" The sarcastic end to her monologue shocked the others in the room out of their slightly dazed state.
"So you have two Kekkei Genkai?" Iruka asked, amazed.
"Essentially."
"One question. What does youkai have to do with it?" Iruka queried, causing the girl to sigh.
"And there's the problematic question." With another sigh, Torahime stood, turning to face her teachers square on, finally noticing Kurenai frowning at her left arm. "You noticed then? I shouldn't be surprised."
"A Genjutsu, built from hundreds of chakra strings, wound and latticed together then bound into the skin? A near perfectly concealed henge. That was the work of a genius," Kurenai commented, clearly impressed.
"Nearly right. It's actually a fuuinjutsu, and because it's bound into my skin, it is normally invisible to the Sharingan, because it melds with my own chakra system. To the Byakugan though, it would probably look fuzzy I'll have to ask Keiko or Misaki about that. How did you detect it?" Torahime asked, seemingly tired.
"It wavered at the start of this conversation. I'd guess that would be because your chakra is so… wild?" The Genjutsu mistress had an odd tone to her voice when she said the last word.
"Yes," raising her left hand, she made a half ram seal. "Kai."
An explosion of smoke engulfed the room, showing the sheer power contained within the Genjutsu. As it cleared, the two Chuunin were completely shocked.
Torahime's left side was very different. Her back, side and the outside of her arm were covered in black, barbed stripes. More importantly, in place of a hand was an orange and black furred paw with large, sharp claws. Her eye was also different, the black ring surrounding it being much more pronounced now.
The girl smiled, revealing large fangs, and Iruka jumped backwards as a tail could be seen swaying behind her, sporting the same orange and black striped fur as her left hand.
"What's wrong Iruka-sensei? Never seen a Hanyo before," came the predictably cutting remark.
"And this is why you kept avoiding saying that you have a second Kekkei Genkai?" Kurenai asked, surprisingly calm given the situation.
"Yes. My links to nature are no more a Kekkei Genkai than your hair colour is."
"Alright. We'll… we'll speak again about how we can help you train with your… dancing." Iruka was plainly still trying to recover.
"Yes, we'll do what we can. Although you're obviously haven't told us everything," Kurenai was far calmer, already trying to figure out the puzzle pieces she was missing.
"And what kind of ninja would I be if I divulged all my important secrets just like that?" Torahime asked playfully before turning to leave.
"You're just going to go out like that?" Kurenai asked, shocked out of her calculations.
"Of course not." Torahime walked to the shadow cast between the windows, "I already told you. I own the shadows."
With that last parting statement, she was gone.
Flashback End
"Well, it's certainly been… interesting." Thinking about all the trouble she'd gotten in with Hana and Keiko she giggled. The moment that stuck in her mind though was Misaki walking in on her and Keiko in a… compromising position. He'd still looked horrified three days later.
Sighing, she thought back on the less fun times, such as the times the Hatake brat had gotten the best of her since she was prohibited from using Kage no Mai, although she'd gotten Kurenai to allow her to use Kaze no Mai, at least.
Flashback
Kakumo rushed towards her, striking high, before he dropped to attempt a sweep. Torahime clumsily blocked the strike and moved back, constantly retreating as her opponent drove her, dictating the flow of the spar. After just a few minutes, she was knocked onto her back and the young Hatake was declared the winner.
Looking at Iruka angrily as the suck-up gloated to Itachi, she walked to Kurenai and quietly asked her if she could make an exception and allow her to use Kaze no Mai, seeing as how she was worthless with the Academy's Taijutsu style.
The argument seemed to make sense to the Genjutsu mistress who agreed, calling for a rematch between Kakumo and Torahime.
"Ready for another embarrassing defeat princess?" The white haired boy asked.
A feral growl escaped the red haired girl's throat as she slid smoothly into a stance only Iruka recognised. Confused, but still believing he could win easily, Kakumo charged forward, attacking the redhead head on.
As his left hand neared her, she seemed to… flow around his hand, gently moving it so that it would miss by a millimetre. She continued to move, constantly moving her limbs and torso.
At the side of the sparring ring, Itachi suddenly grunted in surprise, "Wind?"
Suddenly, the flow of the fight changed as Torahime made her first strike at Kakumo, a rising kick aimed at his solar plexus. Jumping back, he just avoided the offending limb, but somehow, a colossal impact hit his ribs, throwing him sideways, the muscular girl pursuing.
As he landed, she tried to axe kick his head and all there heard a rushing sound before the impact blew a crater into the ground, Kakumo again evading.
Torahime began moving faster, throwing kick after kick and leaving slashes and impact craters on the environment, landing many on her opponent. A few short minutes later, the Hatake boy was on the floor, bleeding and battered, Torahime having just been declared the winner.
Crouching down, she whispered in the boys ear, "That's real Taijutsu, even if I was holding back. Next time, I'll be cutting things off."
Shivering, Kakumo fled to stand slightly behind Itachi, who ignored him in favour of watching Torahime.
Flashback End
Stepping out of the shower, the young tiger Hanyo stood in front of the mirror, fixing her hair into her trademark ponytail. Catching sight of her reflected eyes, she sighed. The black rings and bags underneath were getting pretty bad, even if she overslept this morning. Moving to her room and dressing, she continued thinking of the year gone. She had finally convinced her cousin Renji to do a sealing tattoo for her meteor hammer, a long seal wrapped around her wrist. It meant she no longer had to try to conceal it somewhere on her clothes, a difficult proposition given the size of the weights.
She made it into the kitchen just before Anko finished cooking breakfast. "You're a bitch," she informed her elder sister.
"True," Anko grinned, "But this bitch made you breakfast."
"You're a wonderful person and I love you dearly," Torahime rapidly changed track, thanking her sister as she placed tea and food on the table.
"Good. Now eat up, you've got graduation to get to."
"Yeah. That's gonna be a pain. Why aren't you at work though?" Torahime asked, suddenly realising that Anko usually left around now.
"I've got the next three days off to observe your exams, attend your graduation and all the rest of it. Thought you might appreciate the moral support."
"Thanks. You can watch me kick the crap out of whoever I'm sparring against."
"Unless it's Itachi and they don't let you use weapons."
"Don't even go there," Torahime growled. "That would be utter bullshit."
"True. But Iruka's pretty pissed at you right now."
"Yeah. We probably shouldn't have replaced his salt with MDMA. He nearly got fired for being high at work."
The two shared a giggle at the poor mans misfortune.
"Ah well. Finish up and I'll come with you to the Academy."
That said, Torahime gulped down her tea, checked her weapons and clothing were secure, the walked to the stairs with Anko.
Leaving over the rooftops, they saw a few people around, some closing up bars, gambling dens and brothels while others opened food stands and tea shops.
"Ooh, dango," Anko started to veer off.
"No! Bad Anko! No dango before 10am," Torahime reprimanded her adopted sister.
"But sis… Dango!"
"I said no! Now let's get going before we're late."
A/N: Okay, so another chapter for you to pour your scorn upon. There's been a timeskip to the end of the year, the day of the final exams. Hope you're enjoying this and please tell me how I could improve. Also, I'm still looking for a Beta, so anyone with good BRITISH English who could give me a hand by checking my grammar, punctuation etc. would be great.