p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"cite style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Now. Age: 16./cite/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Izumi lay on the rooftop of one of Amegakure's industrial dystopian-looking buildings. The rain was hitting the wet bricks, trickling down the cracks. Moss which seemed to have been an integral part of the village's wet and cold architecture shimmered vividly. Evening lights reflected in raindrops like thousands of colourful diamonds looking somehow mesmerizing, Izumi /She lost to Itachi again, but she was so sure she almost had him. This time she managed to get closer, break the barrier that she had not been able to do before. Especially now, without Akira's support. Yet, she was too weak, Izumi slandered herself. She used her claws again, the Jutsu that would take the biggest tool on her chakra and health, but she couldn't help herself. Just after admitting the defeat, she turned on her food and threw herself on the ground, close to the roof's edge and stayed there, indifferently letting the rain lash down on her drained /Akira walked up to Izumi holding a wide umbrella, gently putting her hand on her sister's shoulder 'Come, let's take care of your wounds'. Izumi did not answer, instead, murmured under her nose. She had her face pressed against the cold brick of the rooftop edge, as the rain mixed with dirt and sweat trickled down her face. The coolness of the brick helped with the pain of the swollen right cheek. She brought her hands slowly to her face assessing the traces left by the moth stigma activated during the sparring session. This power. Chakra evaporated faintly from her burned forearms giving way to new skin regenerated by Chomei's /Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Itachi dusting off his coat as he slowly headed towards the entrance to the inside of the tower. His unnatural gait caught her attention. Itachi choked back a cough, looking at his hand, making sure it was away from Nanusakes' view. Izumi frowned and looked at Akira who ignored her instead and focused on assessing her sister's /'Akira…promise we will return to Konoha.'br /The older one didn't answer, looking at Izumi with a cold gaze. Young Moth knew that look too well. She already knew not to push any /That night she slept restlessly, the memories of her old home came back unexpectedly with force. The constant uncertainty about her future and the possibility of ever returning to Konoha intensified the nightmares. Sasori's sweet touch brought temporary relief and eventually, she managed to fall into a deep sleep right after he left her room, her fingers clenched the red ribbon wrapped around her neck. His influence must have had something to do with the vivid and ambiguous dreams of the past she's been having in recent weeks. Despite Akatsuki's attempts to make her forget, she started to remember. Piece by piece./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"cite style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Throwback to Konoha, after Orochimaru's attack. Age: 12-13./cite/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She's back in the forest, familiar surroundings. The leaves rustle in the wind, and the air suddenly becomes cold, despite the good weather. Izumi feels the two thick ponytails weighing down either side of her head, quickly realizing that she is 12 years old /Huge tree branches obscure the blue sky, the eerie silence makes Izumi shiver and the sounds of the wind are the only thing she hears now until she picks up a boy's /She's walking through the forest, not knowing the direction, only being sure of one thing - she wants out of here, now. Is she running away from someone?br /'Izumi, wait!'br /That familiar chakra reaches her like the pleasant smell of home, friendship, closeness, and /'Naruto?' Uzumaki's screams made Izumi stop /Chunnin exams popped into her mind, reminding her of the events that happened years ago during her return to Konohagakure. The thought was then followed by the pictures of Orochimaru's mission that forced her to make significant life-changing decisions, the eventual betrayal and change of /'What do you want?' came out of her mouth as if through a fog. She turned around, seeing Uzumaki running up to her, concerned. There was no one else nearby, but Izumi could faintly feel death and suffering, like smoke from a fire spreading through the forest. Death of the Third Hokage…br /'Why do you want to go back to that monster? We were friends, what happened…'br /'Friends - what are you talking about?'br /'I won't let you go, not after everything'br /'There is no place for me in Konoha, you know that. I am a monster raised by a monster - by staying here I am only endangering the lives of others, your friends!'br /'Izumi. You are one of us…'br /'Leave me be! You have no idea how much everything has changed in recent years! You have no idea what you're talking about. You've seen Gaara, you've seen what he's capable of, me and him are in the same boat.'br /'Gaara is a friend of Izumi's. It doesn't matter what darkness lives inside. I know well what he went through, I know the loneliness, rejection, ostracism of the village, people who should have been my family…'br /'Therefore, you should know well that a child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth.'br /Naruto fell silent, struck by her /'You should know better and maybe put your own powers to work too. Take back what they've taken away from you' Izumi continued, visibly torn between the hatred and fear of hurting the /'I won't let that happen.'br /'Huranaishi is the only one I have left, she has always taken care of me and will continue to do so. Come on, I'll show you what they did to me. Orochimaru invented a special drink, which I really, really struggle to live without by the way! But that precious drink helped me reach the deepest levels of Chomei's chakra.'br /'What are you talking about? Who is Chomei?'br /'I am a monster, Naruto. I have the power to raze this village to the ground, I don't want that. If I stand up to Orochimaru, he will…'br /'We will protect you. You are one of us, I will never stop telling you that!' Naruto approached her closer gripping his fists, determination screaming from his face and trembling /Figures began to emerge from behind the trees. Their faces, blurry at first, began to show Shikamaru, Ino, Hinata, Kiba, Sakura…br /The wind howls now hurling brown leaves aggressively, cutting them straight in halves in front of her eyes. Izumi squints her eyes and covers her face while the trees grow taller around her and others. The image blurs and Izumi suddenly falls even deeper, this time into much older memories./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"cite style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Throwback to 10 years ago. Age: 7./cite/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'Danzo gave me such a wonderful gift!' A hiss of satisfaction escaped the Snake Sannin's /Muffled conversations were reaching half-conscious Izumi's ears. She slowly begins to distinguish the owners of the voices as her eyes remain /'You will have to try again. This time let's take her to another operating theatre. We'll need more assistants' Kabuto, bustling around energetically gives a few orders to others gathered around and leaves the room to call for /'My little Gaa-chan…' Orochimaru turned to Izumi, huddled on the cold floor. 'If only you understood the politics of the village... I hope you will understand everything soon eventually. You'll be grateful to us for giving you a real home here' he chuckled, running his hand gently over her head. 'My little jinchuuriki. Who needs a village that betrays its own people anyway, haha.'br /Izumi struggles to pretend to be unconscious when the tremble moves her exhausted body. The sheer volume of information and events overwhelms her, making her want to vomit from the dizziness. She's a small child again. She does not understand a /When she came to her senses, the assistants picked her up and carried her to another lab. After listening to Orochimaru's instructions, they obediently resumed the experiments on the girl, who this time lay there watching their actions with growing indifference. Fear and confusion were still prominent but she couldn't fight anymore. What was the point, they would drop like flies anyway. Huranaishi would never let her get hurt./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"cite style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Throwback to 5 years ago. Age: 12./cite/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'They wanted my power, the Moth's real power, Naruto… they had no idea what mistake they were making' Izumi continues. 'Huranaishi, although still weak, fought like a lioness, didn't let anyone get to me or hurt me. She has always been and will be my true guardian. I lost my entire clan, my beloved mother, my sister... not to mention Sasuke. However, she is and will always be with me, she will never let me down, so I dedicate my life to her. I give her my body, and in return, she gives me her protection... and power. Do you understand?'br /Naruto listened. The others stared at her in silence. Their faces keep getting blurry while the leaves dance in the wind. Dark clouds begin to roll in, obscuring the blue /Another fall through through the whirlwind of memories and nightmares, Izumi let the wind carry her./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"cite style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Throwback to 10 years ago. Age: 7./cite/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"New assistants are bustling around Izumi, carrying away limp bodies of others, scrubbing the blood off the walls while Izumi kneels indifferently in the middle of the operating theatre floor. Orochimaru and Kabuto watch everything behind the safety glass, noting down conclusions with undisguised /What are we going to do about her now?' Kabuto asks. Izumi should not hear him from this far, their microphone was turned off, yet her heightened senses allowed her to pick every word /'This is so interesting… so special. I cannot hide my disappointment that I may very well have to give up on planning to take over her body, but Izumi is too intrusive to get rid of her now. I think we will still be able to get a lot out of her. This little one is unaware of her power, and being with us, we have a fantastic opportunity to shape her life path and train her to achieve her maximum potential. Who knows, maybe she will even become my favourite one?'br /Izumi lifted her face towards the safety glass, her glazed violet eyes meeting Orochimaru's gaze. The disgusting smile of fascination would not leave the Snake's face. She felt sick to her stomach./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"cite style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Throwback to Konoha. Age: 12-13./cite/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'All that… yet I eventually gave up and became a part of Orochimaru's family. Honestly, it didn't even take long. All I wanted back then was to belong and they gave me everything. I did not care what they did or made me do, as long as I was safe. How can someone like me dare to be accepted back into a civilized world? I have no right to ask for this.'br /'You are our friend, Izumi. No matter what. You had no choice then. Now is different. I know that you have good in you and you don't want to hurt others. Stay with us…'br /'Comrades always support each other' Rock Lee joins Naruto in /'You are one of us' Kiba /'You have no idea what I did…' Izumi still tries to argue but with less force in her /'It's never too late to redeem yourself, Izumi' Dark clouds covered the entire sky after Shikamaru's argument, shrouding the forest in complete darkness. Izumi, however, felt no fear. The warm chakra of her companions surrounded her like a protective embrace. She was no longer alone. She had to return to them at all costs./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Izumi lay on the rooftop of one of Amegakure's industrial dystopian-looking buildings. The rain was hitting the wet bricks, trickling down the cracks. Moss which seemed to have been an integral part of the village's wet and cold architecture shimmered vividly. Evening lights reflected in raindrops like thousands of colourful diamonds looking somehow mesmerizing, Izumi /She lost to Itachi again, but she was so sure she almost had him. This time she managed to get closer, break the barrier that she had not been able to do before. Especially now, without Akira's support. Yet, she was too weak, Izumi slandered herself. She used her claws again, the Jutsu that would take the biggest tool on her chakra and health, but she couldn't help herself. Just after admitting the defeat, she turned on her food and threw herself on the ground, close to the roof's edge and stayed there, indifferently letting the rain lash down on her drained /Akira walked up to Izumi holding a wide umbrella, gently putting her hand on her sister's shoulder 'Come, let's take care of your wounds'. Izumi did not answer, instead, murmured under her nose. She had her face pressed against the cold brick of the rooftop edge, as the rain mixed with dirt and sweat trickled down her face. The coolness of the brick helped with the pain of the swollen right cheek. She brought her hands slowly to her face assessing the traces left by the moth stigma activated during the sparring session. This power. Chakra evaporated faintly from her burned forearms giving way to new skin regenerated by Chomei's /Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Itachi dusting off his coat as he slowly headed towards the entrance to the inside of the tower. His unnatural gait caught her attention. Itachi choked back a cough, looking at his hand, making sure it was away from Nanusakes' view. Izumi frowned and looked at Akira who ignored her instead and focused on assessing her sister's /'Akira…promise we will return to Konoha.'br /The older one didn't answer, looking at Izumi with a cold gaze. Young Moth knew that look too well. She already knew not to push any /That night she slept restlessly, the memories of her old home came back unexpectedly with force. The constant uncertainty about her future and the possibility of ever returning to Konoha intensified the nightmares. Sasori's sweet touch brought temporary relief and eventually, she managed to fall into a deep sleep right after he left her room, her fingers clenched the red ribbon wrapped around her neck. His influence must have had something to do with the vivid and ambiguous dreams of the past she's been having in recent weeks. Despite Akatsuki's attempts to make her forget, she started to remember. Piece by piece./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"cite style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Throwback to Konoha, after Orochimaru's attack. Age: 12-13./cite/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She's back in the forest, familiar surroundings. The leaves rustle in the wind, and the air suddenly becomes cold, despite the good weather. Izumi feels the two thick ponytails weighing down either side of her head, quickly realizing that she is 12 years old /Huge tree branches obscure the blue sky, the eerie silence makes Izumi shiver and the sounds of the wind are the only thing she hears now until she picks up a boy's /She's walking through the forest, not knowing the direction, only being sure of one thing - she wants out of here, now. Is she running away from someone?br /'Izumi, wait!'br /That familiar chakra reaches her like the pleasant smell of home, friendship, closeness, and /'Naruto?' Uzumaki's screams made Izumi stop /Chunnin exams popped into her mind, reminding her of the events that happened years ago during her return to Konohagakure. The thought was then followed by the pictures of Orochimaru's mission that forced her to make significant life-changing decisions, the eventual betrayal and change of /'What do you want?' came out of her mouth as if through a fog. She turned around, seeing Uzumaki running up to her, concerned. There was no one else nearby, but Izumi could faintly feel death and suffering, like smoke from a fire spreading through the forest. Death of the Third Hokage…br /'Why do you want to go back to that monster? We were friends, what happened…'br /'Friends - what are you talking about?'br /'I won't let you go, not after everything'br /'There is no place for me in Konoha, you know that. I am a monster raised by a monster - by staying here I am only endangering the lives of others, your friends!'br /'Izumi. You are one of us…'br /'Leave me be! You have no idea how much everything has changed in recent years! You have no idea what you're talking about. You've seen Gaara, you've seen what he's capable of, me and him are in the same boat.'br /'Gaara is a friend of Izumi's. It doesn't matter what darkness lives inside. I know well what he went through, I know the loneliness, rejection, ostracism of the village, people who should have been my family…'br /'Therefore, you should know well that a child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth.'br /Naruto fell silent, struck by her /'You should know better and maybe put your own powers to work too. Take back what they've taken away from you' Izumi continued, visibly torn between the hatred and fear of hurting the /'I won't let that happen.'br /'Huranaishi is the only one I have left, she has always taken care of me and will continue to do so. Come on, I'll show you what they did to me. Orochimaru invented a special drink, which I really, really struggle to live without by the way! But that precious drink helped me reach the deepest levels of Chomei's chakra.'br /'What are you talking about? Who is Chomei?'br /'I am a monster, Naruto. I have the power to raze this village to the ground, I don't want that. If I stand up to Orochimaru, he will…'br /'We will protect you. You are one of us, I will never stop telling you that!' Naruto approached her closer gripping his fists, determination screaming from his face and trembling /Figures began to emerge from behind the trees. Their faces, blurry at first, began to show Shikamaru, Ino, Hinata, Kiba, Sakura…br /The wind howls now hurling brown leaves aggressively, cutting them straight in halves in front of her eyes. Izumi squints her eyes and covers her face while the trees grow taller around her and others. The image blurs and Izumi suddenly falls even deeper, this time into much older memories./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"cite style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Throwback to 10 years ago. Age: 7./cite/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'Danzo gave me such a wonderful gift!' A hiss of satisfaction escaped the Snake Sannin's /Muffled conversations were reaching half-conscious Izumi's ears. She slowly begins to distinguish the owners of the voices as her eyes remain /'You will have to try again. This time let's take her to another operating theatre. We'll need more assistants' Kabuto, bustling around energetically gives a few orders to others gathered around and leaves the room to call for /'My little Gaa-chan…' Orochimaru turned to Izumi, huddled on the cold floor. 'If only you understood the politics of the village... I hope you will understand everything soon eventually. You'll be grateful to us for giving you a real home here' he chuckled, running his hand gently over her head. 'My little jinchuuriki. Who needs a village that betrays its own people anyway, haha.'br /Izumi struggles to pretend to be unconscious when the tremble moves her exhausted body. The sheer volume of information and events overwhelms her, making her want to vomit from the dizziness. She's a small child again. She does not understand a /When she came to her senses, the assistants picked her up and carried her to another lab. After listening to Orochimaru's instructions, they obediently resumed the experiments on the girl, who this time lay there watching their actions with growing indifference. Fear and confusion were still prominent but she couldn't fight anymore. What was the point, they would drop like flies anyway. Huranaishi would never let her get hurt./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"cite style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Throwback to 5 years ago. Age: 12./cite/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'They wanted my power, the Moth's real power, Naruto… they had no idea what mistake they were making' Izumi continues. 'Huranaishi, although still weak, fought like a lioness, didn't let anyone get to me or hurt me. She has always been and will be my true guardian. I lost my entire clan, my beloved mother, my sister... not to mention Sasuke. However, she is and will always be with me, she will never let me down, so I dedicate my life to her. I give her my body, and in return, she gives me her protection... and power. Do you understand?'br /Naruto listened. The others stared at her in silence. Their faces keep getting blurry while the leaves dance in the wind. Dark clouds begin to roll in, obscuring the blue /Another fall through through the whirlwind of memories and nightmares, Izumi let the wind carry her./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"cite style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Throwback to 10 years ago. Age: 7./cite/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"New assistants are bustling around Izumi, carrying away limp bodies of others, scrubbing the blood off the walls while Izumi kneels indifferently in the middle of the operating theatre floor. Orochimaru and Kabuto watch everything behind the safety glass, noting down conclusions with undisguised /What are we going to do about her now?' Kabuto asks. Izumi should not hear him from this far, their microphone was turned off, yet her heightened senses allowed her to pick every word /'This is so interesting… so special. I cannot hide my disappointment that I may very well have to give up on planning to take over her body, but Izumi is too intrusive to get rid of her now. I think we will still be able to get a lot out of her. This little one is unaware of her power, and being with us, we have a fantastic opportunity to shape her life path and train her to achieve her maximum potential. Who knows, maybe she will even become my favourite one?'br /Izumi lifted her face towards the safety glass, her glazed violet eyes meeting Orochimaru's gaze. The disgusting smile of fascination would not leave the Snake's face. She felt sick to her stomach./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"cite style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Throwback to Konoha. Age: 12-13./cite/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'All that… yet I eventually gave up and became a part of Orochimaru's family. Honestly, it didn't even take long. All I wanted back then was to belong and they gave me everything. I did not care what they did or made me do, as long as I was safe. How can someone like me dare to be accepted back into a civilized world? I have no right to ask for this.'br /'You are our friend, Izumi. No matter what. You had no choice then. Now is different. I know that you have good in you and you don't want to hurt others. Stay with us…'br /'Comrades always support each other' Rock Lee joins Naruto in /'You are one of us' Kiba /'You have no idea what I did…' Izumi still tries to argue but with less force in her /'It's never too late to redeem yourself, Izumi' Dark clouds covered the entire sky after Shikamaru's argument, shrouding the forest in complete darkness. Izumi, however, felt no fear. The warm chakra of her companions surrounded her like a protective embrace. She was no longer alone. She had to return to them at all costs./p