Merry Christmas! I hope you're all having a good holiday and getting all the presents you wanted. Oh, and here's my present to you all.

I don't own Naruto, etc -only my OCs.

So read, enjoy, review -but no flames! And enjoy the festive spirit

"You know the rules of the village, Megumi," the elderly man said as he sat behind his desk. He was an elderly man, with white hair, but I could tell he was the Hokage –he was wearing the official uniform with the hat and hoari, with red colourings and the kanji for 'fire' on his hat.

Hokage –that meant he was the strongest ninja of the Hidden Leaf, one of five throughout the world who were allowed the title of 'Kage'. I compared him in my mind to A, the Raikage –thickset, with raw power, demanding respect just by being in the room. Compared to that, the Third Hokage didn't look like much –just an elderly man long past his prime –and yet I knew that he had to be powerful if he was still Hokage. And right now, he was the one determining my fate.

Right now, we were standing in his office; I was standing before him, holding Megumi's hand. She wasn't dressed in the uniform she had been wearing when I had met her; she was wearing a purple and white kimono that trailed to the ground, although I knew that she was carrying a tanto in the sleeve of one arm. I had been given a pink kimono, tied up with a white obi that had a floral design on it. My hair was kept clear from my face with a hair-band with golden embellishments and a faux-rose on the left side.

"We do not ordinarily take in orphans from other lands," he said eventually. He was reading through some paperwork –the results of medical and psychological tests that had been run when I had been brought back to the village. I still remembered the dimly-lit room, sitting on a chair in the middle of a seal, ANBU agents masked around me. It had been a rather alarming experience.

The curse-mark on the back of my neck had been sealed by the Hokage to prevent it from acting up. During the medical exam, the Medical Corps had noted my advanced chakra mastery and been astonished at my Kekkei Genkai. And they also knew of the Sealing jutsu that kept the demon that had torn into the Cloud village confined.

"Poor kid," I heard a cat-masked ANBU ninja saying as the floor began to come back into focus below me. I had been under the influence of the Time Reversal genjutsu, keeping me calm and putting me into a state of hypnosis so that I could remember details I might not be remember on a whim. "She's been little better than a prisoner all this time."

"I can't believe the Cloud ninja –kidnapping a kid," a dog-faced member of the ANBU said.

"Well?" the Hokage asked. He was standing behind me, blowing out a cloud of pipe-smoke.

"Considering everything, it's remarkable she's sane," the cat ANBU said. "We can't access anything beyond her time in the Cloud. It's most likely suppressed memory. There's no way to tell what clan or land she hails from –but it's definitely not the Land of Lightning or Frost."

"So what do we do with her, Lord Hokage?" the dog-masked ANBU asked.

And now I was here, awaiting the Hokage's decision. "Megumi –I've never had any reason to doubt your judgement," he said, lowering the paperwork, and pulling the hat from his head. He gave me a gentle smile. "Until her true clan comes to claim her, Hazuki will join the Takeda clan as its daughter, and have a home under the protection of the Leaf shinobi, free to join the ninja ranks when she feels ready."

Delight flooded my heart –I had a new home, a new family, a new village. I was finally free.

My mother led me up to the roof of the building we had been in moments before. From there, we had a view over the entirety of the village. The Land of Fire's Hidden Village's ancient name was Konohagakure. The Hidden Leaf Village sprawled out from the base of a huge mountain to the north; and carved into the rock of the mountain were four faces.

"This is the Hokage Monument, dedicated to the greatest and strongest ninja of their time. Those are the faces of the Hokage." She pointed to the furthest one on the left.

The First Hokage was the one who had founded the village –the first ninja village in the world. His name had been Hashirama Senju, and the likeness on the mountain had a face that was framed with combed-back hair with two single locks hanging loose over his face instead.

The Second Hokage had been the brother of the First, Tobirama Senju. During his reign, he had changed and organized the village into the way it had been running ever since. His portrait high above had shaggy hair and three markings on his face —two under his eyes and one on his chin, with a metal happuri engraved with the Konoha leaf emblem.

"And that is our current Hokage –the Third," Mother said as I studied the image of a man with a goatee and short spiked hair, with a single line running vertically under the outer corners of each eye.

There was one more image –a figure with spiky blond hair that had jaw-length bangs that framed either side of his face. "That is the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze," I was told. "He died saving the village before he could name an heir, leaving the Third to come out of retirement."

As I looked up at the images, I felt a tremor of pride running through me. The Hidden Leaf had a long and rich history. I had not only a new family –I had a new heritage.

I soon found that being adopted into the Takeda clan was not just being adopted into a new family. The Takeda clan was one of the most well-established and prominent families in the Hidden Leaf, renowned weapon-crafters who gave the Hidden Leaf an edge for generations of their family. We were part of a great clan, one that demanded respect and was on good terms with the other noble clans in the village.

The moment I had been declared an official member of the Takeda family, there had been a celebration; the Takeda compound's grounds had been organised for the massive party that came with the celebration. The Takeda and Xa Jing clans were there –the two clans were intertwined closely –as well as members of the other prominent clans. The Takeda were the masters of the clan, running the family and guarding our secrets, while the Xa Jing lived as our branch family, sworn to protect us.

There had been another celebration when I had turned six years old on 3 July–the age at which the Princess was named. This time, there had been other clans there, members of the other noble families in the Hidden Leaf. The Uchiha clan, with its members the inheritors of the Sharingan, were there as well; they were the family that ran the Military Police Force of the village: after all, only strong shinobi were capable of bringing criminals to justice.

I watched as Mother embraced and kissed the cheeks of a woman with long black hair with bangs that framed her face as they ran down either side of her cheeks. The woman was wearing a simple purple blouse and a red-plum skirt.

"I'm so glad that you found a daughter," she was saying. The lady smiled at me, and I ducked behind my mother's side. "Itachi, Sasuke –come here a moment. There's someone you should met."

One of the boys was as tall as the man who was chatting to my father, with dark onyx eyes that held a gentle look in them. His face was framed by bangs of his black hair, some of which he kept in a ponytail, and there were long tear troughs under his eyes. He was wearing a black shirt with the fan emblem that was the symbol of the Uchiha clan on his back, and pants.

"Itachi, you've grown into quite the man," Mother said. The taller boy bowed to her. "Still practicing with your shuriken, I trust."

My gaze rested on the boy beside Itachi. He was about my age, I thought. He had the same black hair and dark eyes as the rest of the Uchiha, wearing a simple black long-sleeved shirt that had a raised collar and sported the Uchiha crest on the back, as well as black shorts and sandals.

"And this must be Sasuke," Mother said, finished her conversation with Itachi and turning to the younger. "So what are your dreams for the future, Sasuke?"

"I want to join the Military Police force, just like my father," Sasuke replied. He was looking over to the man as he said that –but there was no indication that he had even heard his son. "I want to be a splendid ninja, just like Itachi."

Sasuke's mother then turned back to my mother, and the two began discussing plans for our education. Sasuke was due to start at the Ninja Academy next summer; Mother was planning to send me there as well. "I hope you'll have time to make friends with Hazuki," his mother said. Sasuke looked at me, and inclined his head.

The Hyuga clan, with its renowned and powerful eye-based Kekkei Genkai called the Byakugan, were there too. I later learnt that only the members of the main branch of the clan were present.

"Congratulations on finding a suitable heir, Megumi," someone said as he approached. I noticed a man with long flowing black hair and featureless white eyes coming over, wearing traditional long loose-fitting robes under a long-sleeved haori. His expression was stern.

"Thank you, Hiashi," Mother said as I stood beside her, holding onto her hand. "How is Lady Hinata?"

"She is not faring well in her training," the man said, glancing over his shoulder. I followed his gaze to see a girl –again, she looked about my age –with dark blue hair and the same eyes as her father, except I noticed that they had a tinge of lavender to them. Our eyes met, and she gave a small smile. "How is your child faring?"

"I have not begun her training yet –but she already shows some skill," Mother said. She sounded so proud of me.

Being a Takeda was also about far more than being a member of the distinguished clans. To the Takeda, ability and strength were everything. There were high expectations on every member of the family, especially the Princess. I wouldn't inherit the title of Matriarch until I was sixteen and had passed the Chunin exams.

I slunk away from the festivities and into the coolness of the interior of the main house of the complex. I needed a break from being the centre of attention and praise –it wasn't something I was used to.

I knocked gently on the partition that separated one bedroom from the rest of the house. "Mm, come in," someone called from inside. It was the only member of the house who was absent from the celebrations.

I pushed the partition open and stepped inside. The room was light and airy, windows on one side that overlooked the garden –and the party beyond. Its sole occupant was a young woman, with long black hair and doe-brown eyes, dressed in a simple white yukata that had a light-blue butterfly design on the left lapel. Her skin was pale, almost as white as the clothes she wore. Although it was past midday, she was lying on a futon.

"Hazuki, what are you doing here?" she asked. "That party's for you; you ought to be out there enjoying it."

I held out a chain of flowers that I had created during the morning, before the introductions had begun. Tomoha couldn't join in the festivities –she was confined to her bed. She should have been Princess herself –but her health was too frail to allow it. The only room she knew was this one.

The sole reason I was Princess, heiress to the Takeda clan, was because Tomoha was too frail to ever make Chunin. She had a memorabilia of when she had been a Genin –a katana that hung on the wall, the trousers and shirt she had worn while training and going on missions –but that was the only indication that she had ever been healthy and active.

"For you," I said, holding out the flower-chain. Tomoha took it.

"Thank you, Hazuki," she said, smiling gently as she laid it beside her. "You're such a sweet girl."

Then she began to cough and cough –she was coughing so much she started coughing up blood –I pressed the button to call the doctors, calling the medics from standby to my sister's bedside. I left the room. That was why Tomoha was physically incapable of becoming Matriarch, the reason her birth-right had been passed to me.

"I thought I might find you here," I heard someone say, and I looked around. A tall young man appeared around the corner, sword at his back, wearing shin guards, fingerless gloves that reached to the elbow under armoured arm guards. Like Tomoha –actually, like so many of the Takeda clan –he had long black hair that he kept up in a ponytail. His eyes were a bright sea-green. Etsuya was my adopted brother, as well as the Clan Guardsman assigned to protect me. He looked at the closed door, behind which I could still hear Tomoha coughing and wheezing, the medics's comments bouncing off the walls. I could see the sadness in his eyes as he led me away from the room.

To be a Takeda of worth, you had to master kenjutsu and taijutsu. Our training began at the age of six, before we even entered the Academy. From there, you build upon your skills as you moved up the ranks from Genin, to Chunin and to Jonin.

The grounds of the Takeda compound were extensive; the houses of the Takeda and Xa Jing, the forges and storehouses were near the base of the Hogake Monument. Along with those, we had private wide training grounds.

I was in one of those training grounds, sparring with Etsuya. It was already late in August. And I was due to start at the Academy the following September, as a part of the next generation of shinobi hopefuls.

I had already learnt the fundamental basic jutsu of the shinobi –clone jutsu, transformation jutsu, basic escape jutsu, basic shruiken and kunai skills, the simplest taijutsu moves; between them, the Cloud ninja and Toru had taught me well. My control of chakra was well-beyond the level of most Academy students.

Mother and Father had been adamant, though –it was tradition for every child who wanted to be a ninja to go through the Academy before they became real ninja. Besides, it would apparently do me some good to be surrounded by my peers day in and day out, learning with my own age group.

As I sparred with Etsuya, a flock of birds flew from the branches of a towering yew; my gaze shifted to the flock for the briefest of moments; the next movement of my brother's sword was so fluid, so quick, that I didn't see it and certainly didn't have time to counter-act it.

"Your side's open," Etsuya commented –my only warning as the bamboo sword he was using thundered into my side. The end result of a momentary distraction, when I needed all my focus just to keep up with him –I ended up flat on my back and staring up at the clouds. My bamboo sword had been knocked clean out of my hands.

It was obvious I didn't stand a chance against him, even with the hours of practice I put in on a daily routine. I spent hours practicing my thrusts and cuts –as many as I spent pouring over books and scrolls. If there was one thing that I knew, it was that I had no talent for reading and writing –and yet I craved knowledge. The Cloud ninja had only taught me ninjutsu and taijutsu –I hadn't needed to learn strategy or tactics when, in the end, I would simply be following the tactics of others.

And Toru had taught me all the stuff I knew about poisonous plants and trap jutsu by showing them to me, letting me practice and learn through trial and error.

The difference in our powers was obvious, and so were the reasons –he was a Chunin of twenty-one years of age, raised to fight from the same age I was now. I was a child, not even in the Academy yet.

I shouldn't be disappointed in myself, but the simple truth was –I was. I had been raised to kill without hesitation, taught the vital spots of anatomy most vulnerable to attack. And somewhere along the way, I had lost that killer instinct.

I should be able to do better than this.

"You're getting better," Etsuya said, leaning forward to pull me to my feet. "Day by day, I'm seeing you grow."

"I still lose," I say, dusting down my clothes. I'm not wearing my formal clothing –the kimono and hoari have been tucked away into the back of my closet until the next formal occasion. I wear a piqao dress which is mainly black, although it has the flying-hawk emblem of the Takeda on the back as well as a pattern of red and white roses following the zip-line. I wear tight-fitting shorts that reached down to just past my knees underneath them, a shruiken-holster attached to my right hand thigh. I wore fingerless gloves over my hands and had leg warmers over my lower legs and sandals on my feet. My dark-red hair had grown out –I could tie a portion of it back into a short ponytail while layered bangs dangled into my face.

"You possess a sharp mind, great resourcefulness, and the ability to exploit every advantage," Etsuya said. "I don't doubt that, within a year, you will be able to defeat me in combat. And I look forward to that battle."

I left the Takeda compound after lunch, heading out into the village. My feet eventually brought me to the roof of a building with a view out over the village, in the direction of the Hokage Monument. There was no-one else up here, and I sat on a wooden seat under a canopy.

I knew where the other children would be –in the parkland below the main playground, playing kemari –but I didn't want to go down there. I knew exactly what would happen. It had happened before…

I had been invited to join in several of their games –kemari was just one of them. I enjoyed playing with them.

But then, when I had shown up to play one day, everything had changed…

We had been picking teams –the first team leader had pointed to me. As I had headed to join him, the other boy who had been picked as the opposing leader had objected.

"Hey, that's not fair!" he had shouted. "Whatever team Hazuki's on, they always win!"

It had gotten worse as the two bucked heads and argued over me. They never even considered how I had felt. In the end, I had simply walked away –if I wasn't there, their arguing would be pointless.

Since then, I had remained on my own. The children who had argued over what team I should be in had not come back. I watched from the distance, the background, but did not seek to get close to others my age again. I doubted I would ever be able to call anyone a true friend.

Friend –the term meant someone that you were emotionally attached to, someone who liked, respected and trusted; and a true friend was supposed to return such sentiments in kind. A friend was someone outside your family who you trusted with everything. I wanted a friend, someone who would understand the real me, who wouldn't shun me or betray me. I wouldn't let them down, and they would do the same for me.

It all sounded great –in theory. But look at what had happened –it had all been a paper-thin façade.

A rustle of feathers made my eyes drift upwards. A bird was passing overhead –and not just any bird. It was a young Great kite, dark plumage tipped with whitish markings along the base of the outer wing feathers. I smiled at the sight –it was Sora. I whistled, and in an instant, the bird arched and turned to me. I held out an arm, and Sora settled upon it.

Sora was a member of the Great Birds –a species of birds that grew to great sizes, and were as intelligent as any human. The Takeda and the Great Birds had had a Summoning Contract for generations –learning to fight alongside the Great Birds was something I had yet to learn. Every child in the Takeda clan was granted a member of the Great Birds upon their sixth birthday –their life-long comrades. And Sora was a mere hatchling –I had seen the size of those Birds that were kept at the Keep, those who flew alongside my family.

I stroked Sora's plumage. I felt lonely –maybe Sora was going to be my only friend. If so… well, I could live with that.

Sora suddenly turned his head, sharp eyes fixing on the stairwell. I looked up, and saw that there were two boys nearing the top of the stairs. I hadn't even heard or seen them approaching.

"We didn't think there'd be anyone up here," the boy nearer the top of the stairs said. He had long jet-black hair that was tied back in a spiky ponytail. I had seen him before, in games of 'Ninja' around the village. "So what are you doing up here?"

"Just…" I paused, not knowing quite what I was trying to stay, "I don't feel like playing with them today."

"Why don't you hang around with us?" the other boy said. He was more robust than his friend, with spiky brown hair and swirl-like markings on his cheeks. "That's OK, right, Shikamaru?"

"Yeah," his companion said in a lazy drawl. He headed towards the bench, and I moved up to make room for them. They both lay back, staring at the skies. "Hey, why don't you lean back and watch the clouds too?"

So I did. I leant back and watched the clouds and shared a packet of potato-chips that the other boy had brought with them. Sora rested on the roof of the canopy, preening his feathers.

"I'm Shikamaru of the Nara clan," one of the boys said as we headed down from the rooftop –I had completely lost track of time, and had barely noticed that the shadows were starting to get longer.

"And I'm Choji of the Akimichi clan," the more robust boy said.

"I'm Hazuki, of the Takeda clan," I replied. Introductions made, we left in different directions for our homes.

Shikamaru and Choji quickly became my friends –and this time, I knew that I had come across the real deal. I was happy with them –and that felt like the most correct way to live.

Everyone noticed –Etsuya wasn't the only one to comment on how cheery and friendly I seemed to be at all times now. My improvement in my swordplay classes went through the roof. I was happy and content, for the first time in my life –and I thought it would never end.