AN/ I am going through this at a pace so that you can get an idea of where this new version is headed. On that note, i would really like to hear your opinions, and i apologise to my followers for suddenly removing all my material.
Anyway, keep reviewing.
Now, i dont own Naruto or its characters (only my OCs); so now that the disclaimer's done, on with the story
The caves set deep into the side of the mountain were generally deserted, but a group of children had decided to turn the sanctity of the mountains into a playground, removed from the eyes of parents and safely far away from the reservoir. It was their own little hideaway –apart from the fact that every adult in the village knew where to find them.
The Jonin settled into the bushes a little way up the path, peering through to watch the children playing in the area of the cave where the sunlight was strongest. They were playing kemari, kicking the ball between them.
His gaze fixed on the girl with her back to the entrance as she kicked the ball, tapping it between her feet before passing it on. Her long flowing dark-red hair was tied back into a ponytail that flowed to mid-way down her back. She was wearing a plain white cotton tunic and trousers that were three-quarters long, leaving her lower legs free of fabric. She wore black sandals, and had a white cloak that flowed around her shoulders.
His fist clenched at his side; he wasn't able to see it from here, even if she had been facing him, but her eyes were the same as his late sister's –deep onyx. His own eyes narrowed –he hated that. He despised the fact that every time he looked at the four-year-old girl, he saw his sister –and that her existence was an insult to the sacrifice of his sister. Tsurugi hated her –she was an insult. His nephew –the sixteen-year-old Takejin who would one day become Village Patriarch –wanted everyone to believe that Hazuki was a hero –but all she was, all she would ever be, was a monster. And to make matters worse for him, everyone else in Hanonekagure –including the members of his own clan –had bought the now-dead Ichiro's words; Hazuki was a pampered child, loved by the entire village, already being taught the basics of what it meant to be a shinobi, living with the expectations of being the grand-child of the Patriarch –without knowing that she was nothing but a beast.
A collective awe pulled his attention back, and he saw the ball rolling out of the mouth of the cavern, tittering before it began to roll towards him.
"Awe, Akiko, you're so clumsy," one of the boys said from inside. He was a couple of years older than the majority of the group.
"I'm sorry," a soft shy feminine voice said.
"I'll get it!" he heard Hazuki shout, and saw her emerge from the entrance as the ball was nearly at the shrubs where he crouched hidden. It was pointless to remain hiding, so he straightened, scooping up the ball from where it had been rolling and came forward.
"So this is where you troublemakers have been," he said, placing a fake smile on his face as he made his way forward with the ball, spinning it on his index finger.
"Uncle Tsurugi!" Hazuki shouted, running up to him, throwing her arms around his waist. He fought down the desire to throw her off, to curse her –not yet. He must remain in the trust of the Shensi a little while longer. "Why are you here?"
"There's a banquet tonight to welcome our guests," he said. Hanonekagure had been making a treaty with the Land of Lightning to compensate for the lack of their military strength: by latching onto the aid of one of the Great Shinobi Nations, they hoped to learn ways to improve the education of their young until they were ready to compete as an equal to the other shinobi nations.
But Hideyoshi –for all his charisma, experience and negotiating prowess –had no idea what had really spurred the Raikage to make a treaty with such a pitifully weak village of such a small nation that had practically no means of defence or anything of value, so removed from them. He had no idea of the secret deal his son-in-law had made with the Raikage.
Tsurugi had been planning this revenge for years. He held out his hand, and Hazuki took it. He had her trust –a trust that he planned to betray. The girl holding his hand, walking contentedly at his side, was going to be a powerful kunoichi –but she could also be the ultimate tool, a weapon of destruction.
It was late at night; Hazuki had been taken to get ready for bed. Tsurugi entered quietly, and was surprised to find that she was still awake rather than curled up in bed like a contented cat. She was standing at a table in the middle of the room, a portrait in her hands.
Tsurugi knew instantly what photo it was –the only portrait that showed all of her family –including the parents she had never known. Her mother, with her straight black hair and oynx eyes, and her father, with the same red hue Hazuki had inherited, stood in the very centre, their day-old child in their arms. It had been taken in the calm of that day, before she had lost first her mother and then her father.
"What are you doing up so late?" he asked. He had been expecting her to be asleep.
"I just wish… I had more of Mama and Papa than a photo," she said, and Tsurugi hesitated for the first time in his life. She seemed so… lonely, all of a sudden. "I've seen the other's with their parents. I don't understand… why did they leave me?"
Tsurugi's resolve hardened –she was an ignorant and selfish child, completely self-centred. He blinked, and his gaze hardened. Hideyoshi had decreed that none should tell Hazuki the truth –about her parents' deaths or the thing sealed inside her –until she was ten years of age. But he no longer cared for maintaining his ties to the wretched village that hadn't properly mourned his sister.
"It was not their choice, or their design," he said. "Your mother died fighting a powerful demon –your father died upon sealing it into you. The monster that attacked the village, that murdered your mother and so many others, has taken over your body! You are the demon that killed hundreds here!"
The framed portrait clattered to the ground, the glass smashing. Hazuki looked terrified, shocked. She backed away, wide-eyed –seeing him as he really was for the first time. But he couldn't care that he had revealed his dark side to her –it didn't matter anymore.
He focused his chakra, making the tiger hand seal. An illusionary rain of white feathers appeared before Hazuki. She fought to keep her eyes open, but it was pointless –she had no control over her chakra, no way to fight over the hypnotic spell. She was pulled into slumber, and he scooped her into his arms.
He pulled her cloak over his shoulders to keep her warm –although she wouldn't awake until the genjutsu on her was released. And by then, she would be in the Hidden Cloud Village. He opened the window to her bedroom, feeling the cool breeze blowing in across the calm surface of the lake –and then he leapt from the window, heading for the rendezvous point.
Two Kumo ninja were on the other side of the pass that connected Hanonekagure to the outside world, waiting for him –they were not part of the main party. The moon had risen into the sky, a full orb in the sky. It would be daybreak when any ninja from Hakowareta found out that the child and he were missing. There would be no proof that Kumo had played any part in the brat's abduction. They would assume that it was merely him and he had gone rogue –although he assumed that they would figure out why he had taken her.
"So you have the brat?" one of the ninja asked. He –as well as his colleague –was wearing the standard Jonin attire of the Cloud ninja: navy blue pants and a shirt over a dark grey vest, the headband of the Hidden Cloud around his forehead. "Was there any trouble?"
"Of course not," Tsurugi said –he was the caretaker of Hazuki; Hideyoshi gave him absolute confidence to attend to her at all times. And he hadn't employed any other ninja to that station. "Let's not tempt fate by waiting around here."
The ninja shared glances, and then took off, taking to the trees as they hurried away, leaving no sign of their passage.
It took them three days to pass into the Land of Lightning, and then a further day to draw near to the Hidden Cloud Village. The early part of the journey had been tense –they had been alert for any sign of pursuit from behind. They had kept up a rapid pace on the way through the lands, even when they had figured that they weren't being pursued.
The moment they rounded the last bend on the mountain pass, entering the limits of the village. The moment they were in the village, they were summoned to the office of the Raikage, located in the large blue structure that had been built from the tallest peak of the mountain where the village stood.
The Fourth Raikage was a tall muscular build, with blond hair, moustache and beard that contrasted sharply with his dark skin. He was wearing his Kage haori and hat as he sat in the office, although he wore no shirt underneath. He commanded respect rather than requesting it. His eyes fell on the girl Tsurugi was holding, having carried her all this way. "This is the so-called weapon of Hanonekagure?"
"Yes, Lord Raikage," Tsurugi said, stepping forward. "She carries the kekkai genkai of the Shensi, and has a demon within her."
"Lord Raikage, does the village suspect anything?" the Jonin in charge of the escort mission asked. "There was no pursuit."
"And there wouldn't have been," the Raikage said. He pushed two pieces of paper across the table –one of the child and one of Tsurugi. The word WANTED was printed across the bottom of Tsurugi's, with a hefty sum. He was a rogue to his home-nation now, a criminal. "They have no suspicion that we are involved –in fact, they are begging for our help to find a rogue and a child. You have done well. How is the child?" he asked the third ninja of the party. The bespectacled ninja who was from the Medical Corps pushed his glasses further up his nose.
"Healthy in every way," he said. "Despite the amount of time she has been trapped in a genjutsu, I am sure that she will be fully conscious within a few hours."
"Good," the Raikage said. "What about her chakra capacity? What can we expect?"
"She already possesses chakra –enough that I have little doubt that she can perform the most basic of ninjutsu skills. The sealing of the demon within her will probably have caused an increase in her reserves in order to allow her to contain the beast –exactly the same as with a jinchuriki. However, I am sure that over time, her growth and potential will dwarf that of other children if measured on an absolute scale, but the power of the demon is less than that of one of the Tailed Beasts. It ties in with what Tsurugi has told us –she was already beginning her ninja training."
"Excellent –that means we don't have to waste time lying down the foundations," the Raikage said. "Tsurugi –you have done well. I appoint you as the new Head Ninja of our Cloud Village –our old one died in an unfortunate twist of fate in the Leaf Village last year." He threw a Cloud forehead protector across to the man, who deftly caught it.
There was a knock at the door. At a word from the Raikage, it opened and a woman stepped into the room. She looked young, barely past her teens, with long straight blonde hair that was tied back in taut bandages. She was dressed in a short-sleeved purple blouse, black pants that had a design similar to clouds on them, and purple fingerless gloves. The standard forehead protector was secured around her forehead, with a kunai holster strapped to her right thigh. She had woven bandages around her forearms and lower legs, and had a red belt tied around her waist.
"Yugito –I have a task for you," the Raikage said, pointing to the unconscious girl. "Until further notice, raise this child. Make sure that she understands her place –she is here as a tool for the designs of this village."
"Yes, Lord Raikage," she said, bowing and stepping forward to claim the child. As she adjusted the child into her arms, noticing that she was under the influence of a powerful genjutsu, she noticed the look in the eyes of the man who had been holding her before. It was as though he was looking at something disgusting that had gotten on the sole of his sandals.
That look –it was like the looks that she had been subjected to since childhood. Within a moment, she realised –this girl may not be a jinchuriki, but she carried something powerful within her. And those who were hosts were always going to be feared.
She carried the child through the streets, stepping over the threshold of her home. It had been planned –she had been informed of the child's arrival and been put in charge of her wellbeing. The room that she stepped into was bare, with just a simple bed by a window –and nothing else. She covered the child up with blankets on the bed before reaching to the girl's forehead.
"Release," she said, dispelling the genjutsu. The girl moved slightly, but her eyes remained closed as she moved into a natural sleep after so long.
"Sleep well, little one," she said softly, reaching out and scraping a loose strand of hair from across her face. The child was going to need it –tomorrow, her training would begin.