Sorry it took so long, I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, just the Gushikans.

Chapter 3

"Takara, baby, time to wake up." My Mom's sing-song voice pulled me through my dreams and into my purple bedroom.

I slowly opened my eyes and ungracefully sat up to rub the sleep out of my eyes. When suddenly, I remembered something.

I tried to quickly get out of bed only to fall from my immense number of blankets twisted around my body. I then pulled myself from my comfortable cocoon to grab the calendar on my desk to make sure it was true. Yes. Today is the first day of the academy.

My Mother giggled at my enthusiasm and told me that she was going to make breakfast, so I better hurry up, before walking out of the room. I quickly ran to my closet to pull out my already chosen outfit.

Yes, I had held a fashion show for my parents a week before to choose this outfit. It's sleek, simple, and perfect for combat.

A long purple t-shirt that could almost be a dress and black leggings under it that went to my knees. Yes, it took an entire day to pick that. Oh! And a cute little dark green vest with my clan symbol on the back. Perfection.

Then I rushed to the bathroom to attempt to brush my wild thick messy curly hair that, due to sleep, was sticking random curls in every direction.

I tried to run the comb through it a few times, but if you know anything about curly hair, sometimes it's just impossible to brush. Due to its immense stubbornness of tangles that went past my shoulders, I kind of gave up and just pulled it into messy pigtails. I had to stop worrying about the untamable beast.

After I finished the rest of my bathroom activities, I went to grab my white backpack that was still sitting on my desk.

I sped down the stairs to sit at the breakfast table next to Daddy, who's currently reading a scroll. Mama set down a plate of eggs in front of me, only to then give me a disappointed click of the tongue and walk behind me. She seemingly pulled a hairbrush from nowhere and then took out my pigtails to gently detangle my hair.

With a mouthful of eggs, I then enthusiastically yelled, "Daddy, are you coming to my introduction ceremony at school today! It's gonna be so much fun, and I hope you can come!" I eagerly stared at him, waiting for a response.

He slowly set down his scroll and with a sigh, looked at the clock. "What time does it start?" He asked.

"It starts at seven and will end at eight." Mom answered for me as she pulled a black ribbon out and used it as a headband to keep my face curly free with the bonus of a cute bow on top of my head.

Dad frowns and then looks at another scroll sitting next to him. "I'm afraid I can't, curly top. I'm leaving for a mission at 7:10. I'm sorry, but I promise that I'll be thinking of you my entire mission." His voice was remorseful as he looked at me.

'Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry.' Dad is busy a lot since he is an Anbu captain.

"How long this time?" I asked in a melancholy voice, my egg eating had slowed down, and now I was pushing the eggs around my plate.

Usually, both my parents would scold me for playing with my food, but this is different.

"I don't know curly top. It could be two months, or it could be three. It's going to be a while before I see you again. But I'll bring you a present, and I promise that when I get back, we will do whatever you want to. I promise, Taka." He said sincerely and frowned softly.

I swallowed thickly. "Can you walk us to the academy today? You will still have enough time to get to your mission." I pleaded.

He pauses to calculate the time in his head and then smiles. "Sure, I'll walk you guys to school today! That sounds like a perfectly grand idea. So finish up your breakfast, and I'll go grab my bag. Then we can walk to school together."

I smiled, it's great whenever Daddy gets to come to do stuff with us. So I down the rest of my breakfast, thank Mom for the new hairdo and then pick up my own backpack. Mom and I waited at the door for a second before Dad body flickers next to us. So we began to walk to the academy.

Because we live on the edge of town, it's actually kind of a far walk, but I enjoy it nonetheless, since Dad's with us. Mom and Dad held hands, and I walked in front of them. We enjoyed the peaceful silence, and Dad and Mom constantly whispered to each other. We walked for a while, and then Mom and Dad both grabbed my hands and lifted my feet off the ground. I giggled, and my parents smiled.

"Daddy, does Auntie Anko know she needs to train me while you're gone?" I asked while I spun in circles.

He thinks about it for a second but then shrugs. "Well, you are going to be in the academy, so you should be getting daily training anyways, so I suppose you don't need to tell Anko this time."

"However," Mama interjects, "The school's training is most certainly not as rigorous as what you have been putting her through." I laughed as I flexed my muscles. Mommy and Daddy rolled their eyes at me.

"I don't know, we'll see how it is," Dad said in thought. "Just make sure her weights are proportioned correctly and that she gets a few miles every day. Oh! Maybe you should start teaching the basics of Akumugan while I'm gone." He brushes a strand of hair behind Mama's ear and smiles at her.

Mom gives him an uncertain look before looking back at me. "I don't know, Akumugan is taught more through experience, and it's hard to explain. She probably won't even start developing it until she's 10. I don't know, honey, it's a little soon. Maybe I'll teach the history first and then the feeling, but it's gonna be hard for her to learn about without her possessing it yet."

He nodded thoughtfully before he stopped. His hand is still clenching Moms.

I look in front of us and realize that we are standing in front of the academy. I was too interested in the conversation to even notice we had arrived. Dad looked at his watch before leaning down to kiss my Mom and then picked me up into a hug.

"I'm sorry curly top, I love you, and I wish I could be there for you today, but it seems the world's against us. I'll be home as quickly as I can. I love you." He kisses my forehead and sets me down before body flickers away.

Mom had a steely look on her face for a moment. She always gets super emotional whenever Dad leaves for a super long mission. She quickly regains herself and then grabs my hand. We begin to walk up the stairs and through the door. There's a crowd of people in the hallway. More people than I think I've ever seen at once. There are adults with kids of all ages and an intense sound of crying going on from kids leaving their parents for the first time. Then there are parents complaining about other kids while their own kids are crying too.

We stood there for a moment and took in the sight. Mom being reclusive and me being a recluse because of her reclusiveness means that we are both entirely out of our own element here.

"What do we do now?" I asked as I looked up to Mom, squeezing her hand.

"I don't know." She said, "I guess we just stand here, I mean no one seems to be talking to anyone who looks like a teacher." She awkwardly moves us close to the wall as a blonde-haired woman and her pink-haired daughter shove through the crowd. Probably looking for a teacher like everyone else.

So we stood there for another moment in complete confusion. We watched more people come in and start talking to others, and despite my social butterfly actions of last week, somehow, I knew none of the kids who I could see.

Finally, a teacher walked in with a clipboard and asked that all the first-year students with their parents follow him into a classroom.

We walked in, and we stood in the back corner as the man began to introduce himself as the head of the first year teaching staff, Iruka sensei. He talked about the curriculum and all the essential stuff for the parents. Like how, as the years' pass, the teachers' will stay with the same group of students until the students graduate.

Before I knew it, the introduction of the school year was already done, and some teachers had already come up and started calling names for their classes. Eventually, Iruka sensei stood up himself and began to announce his own class.

As he went down the list, I began to realize that all my friends so far, even Naruto, were in that class. I had never wished so hard for anything in my life. Ever. I scrunched my eyes closed, I clapped my hands together in prayer, and I just hoped and hoped and hoped that he would say my name. Then, thanks to all the luck in the world, he called my name.

Takara Gushikan.

I had never smiled so big to know that my first friends were all in the same class as me. Immediately after the roll call, Iruka sensei said that we can take a couple minutes to say goodbye to our parents and then walk to his class. After he said that he left for his own room.

Mom's eyes seemed to trail him, and after he was gone, she looked down at me. She smiles at me before glancing to see all the other crying and screaming kids.

She playfully pets my head and asks if I'm going to start crying now. I smile at her and say. "I don't think so, but I will miss you, and I'm a little scared, but at least I know my friends are in my class!" She smiled at me, and she said she knew that that would make me feel better.

Suddenly I was tackled from behind by a screaming blonde haired guy. "TAKARA! We are in the same class, and we will have so many adventures and are going to do this and that, and we will be in the same genin group and-"he rambled, shaking with excitement.

"Woah, Woah, slow down, Naruto!" I laughed. "It sounds like you got our entire school life planned out already!" I smiled. "It's so great that we are in the same class, we're going to be able to be together!" I reach down and grab his hand. I smiled at him, and he grinned at me.

My Mom smiles as she watches the two of us before asking Naruto if he had any plans for dinner. Of course, he responded no, and so she said that he should come over to dinner tonight because it was such a big day. She then looked back at me and stroked my head, kissed my forehead, and said that she'd be back to pick us up after school ended. Then she left, not even looking back once.

After Mom left, Naruto and I went and sat in the middle of the classroom next to a pretty, peppy looking black haired kid who my Conscience told me was named Sasuke, so I didn't ask him.

Yea, so I heard people say that the little voice in the back of your head is your Conscience, so I guess mine is just louder than the average. Oh well, I think my Conscience is quite smart!

We sat there as the teacher droned on about what we needed for the rest of the school year. That we better be prepared and that our homework was due every day. And this and that. No one was very excited about this, but then he decided he would take us around the school. He showed us the rest of the daily training areas, like the sparring section, the wooden dummies for practicing throwing things at, and all that jazz.

That's when things got fun.

I mean, I promise I listened to the lessons and everything. However, I kind of knew most of the things that Iruka sensei was explaining, so Naruto, Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, and I were just kind of messing around the entire time. You know pushing each other into people, yelling at each other, and trying to see who can make sensei go crazy. We were pretty horrible, but we also had a great time!

I would also like to note that Naruto was far worse than all of us and actually got sensei to tie him up.

Overall the day was a pretty big success with my friends enjoying the delicious lunch Mom made for all of us and myself. I think everyone bonded a little bit more today.

As school ended, I was really excited to just come back and be with everyone tomorrow. I don't know if I'll actually learn anything because of all the lessons with Mom and Dad over the years, but I think it will just be fun to be with new people. Maybe I'll make a friend that's a girl too! That would be pretty cool to have sleepovers and do all that kind of stuff that I read about in books.

After it was all over slowly, all my friends' parents came and picked them up, and Naruto, and I sat waiting in front of the school for Mom. She was taking forever, but I suppose I should forgive her because her job is so demanding. She was late, but not horribly.

She sighed when she saw us and bowed, asking for our forgiveness. We both giggled and said it's OK. She walked us home, and she made us a massive dinner with homemade Ramen like Naruto asked. It was delicious!

When it was finally time for Naruto to go home, Mom looked kind of reluctant. She kept looking outside to see how dark and cold it was and then looked at Naruto, who was in shorts and a t-shirt.

Eventually, she actually said that he should just stay and sleep in the guest room. To that, he responded with big eyes and blush. It was really funny, so Naruto actually spent the night in the guest room.

That first month was pretty quick, with easy material and being with my friends a lot. Mom actually did start to teach me about the kekkei genkai in our family tree, it's called Akumugan, which basically means nightmares eye.

Mom mostly just told me the history of it because without me having it, she can't really teach me how to use it. She says that it will finally appear when I am in a stressful or dangerous situation, or maybe I'll just eventually grow up a little bit more, and it'll show itself one day. But for right now, I probably won't be having that power anytime soon. They can tell that I'll have it someday because of my purple eyes.

The clan's eyes are purple in a unique way. First, all of the iris is a pinkish purple color. Hence the nickname the poison eyes, that's what the citizens of Moms old home called it. But then it also has darker purple lines going from the pupil to the end of the iris, four to be exact, with even spacing between them all.

It looks really cool but also draws a lot of attention so it can be a little embarrassing. Mama says we are super special because we are most likely the last of our family with this power. Mom doesn't like to talk about our clan before she met Dad, but I know the basics.

When she was young, she lived in the Land of Waves, but during a time of Civil War and fear, so people with kekkei genkai were hated. Her clan was used in war a lot and was powerful, but physically weak since they had their genjutsu.

One day the villagers set their houses on fire and attacked them. Mommy and her parents were the only ones she knew got out, but then they were hunted like animals. Mommy won't tell me what happens next. Then she got to the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

Only her.

She was put into the orphanage on her 6th birthday and enrolled in school the next day.

The clan's history is horrible, and the eye's history is no better. It's all myth as the real creation is a mystery.

Supposedly we stole a black pupil of a demon, a gray eye of a murderer, a child's blue eye, and a genjutsu masters red eye and stitched the irises over each other making the purple tint and the dark purple lines come from the thread. It's not real of course, just a little story but it is…

It's all just overwhelming to hear.

Mom then decided to show me what the genjutsu looks like and called Anko to use it on. When Anko got there, she just gave me a thumbs-up as Mom's eyes began to emit a purple burning light. Anko just smiled tensely again as she stared into Mom's eyes.

"Our kekkei genkai allows us to show our enemies their greatest fear. The genjutsu digs into their brain to bring up fear. Usually, it's a family member or a boss. We can't show a different environment, but we can infuse our chakra types into the genjutsu. Mine being wind, I can blow the enemy around mentally." Mom explained as she continued to stare at Anko.

Anko's smile disappeared as she moved like she was being pushed by a strong wind. She tried to steady herself on her feet, but it looked like she was losing her balance.

"It can add an ominous feeling to them," Mom noted before seemingly stopping the wind as Anko seemed to relax her stance again. "At this point, the enemy is so deep in the jutsu that they can't hear anything but my voice and only when I want them to. The genjutsu also can dig up the voice of who they fear so they don't hear my voice. Right now, I am very lightly hitting Anko with the jutsu, but in missions, there is the risk of ramping it up all the way up to mental damage, so it's imperative to know a person's limit." She finally released it, and Anko relaxed further and smiled back at me.

"Do you have any questions?" Mom asked with a small smile.

"What if they are not afraid of a human? And how can they release it?" I asked, tilting my head to the side in thought.

"Well, if it's something alive, then the jutsu will work, typically it goes for a human to fear, then an animal, an insect, if it hits an object to use it will disperse. As for releasing it, they must use a special seal out clan created." She scrunched up the fingers on her right hand into a claw and put her straight left fingers in between her thumb and fingers of the claw.

After showing me the seal, Mom seemed to relax, and she gave a large grin. She squatted next to me, to be my height, "Let me tell you why our jutsu is so great. Not only do we paralyze our opponent in fear, but we also suck their chakra away and take it as our own. That is the reason we are fearsome. That's why our jutsu has so many horrible names." She poked me in the tummy, which made me giggle.

"Nightmare juice, dream eater, fear abuse, mental poisoning, and poison eyes. However, you should be proud of those names, always. Without them and our abilities, our clan would have died out a long time ago. Be proud you're alive!" She smiled lovingly and pulled me into a ticking hug.

The school year slowly passed, and I was right. I did know most of the stuff with history, math, and reading. It was all pretty simple. It was also pretty fun to be called the smart person in my friend group.

As for sparring, it is also pretty evident that I am one of the best in the class. Sasuke is pretty good, and it is obvious he is being trained by his family too. Also, a shy girl from class is really good too. I've seen her a few times in the kunoichi class that I have to take. I think her name is Hinata, and according to Conscience, her family is training her a lot too.

There are a couple of nice girls in the kunoichi class, but none of them have really ever tried to talk to me, and I'm a little too awkward to try and talk to them. I just keep to myself and try to focus on the stuff we are learning. I don't know why it's so much easier for me to make friends with boys than girls. The girls just never seem to like me that much. I've talked to a few of them, but most of them just ignore me or don't pursue the conversion for long. I don't know why, but I've heard Dad blame it on Naruto before, but I don't think that's possible, it doesn't make sense.

As for Naruto, he actually sleeps over a lot, especially when Dad's on missions. He isn't exactly happy about Naruto and I sleeping in the same house. I don't really get it, but Dad can be weird, I guess. Mom is really taking to Naruto. She likes to make him homemade Ramen and talk with him. I don't really pay attention that much when I'm not involved, though, so I could say what they talk about.

But then.

On a painful day.

I hit a snag on my dreams to be a ninja.

In class, we were talking about chakra, and yes, I know what that is. I've studied it before with Mom, and Dad has talked about it once or twice, but I guess I've never exclusively tried to use it. I've never had to because Dad's moves don't involve chakra, it's all about taijutsu or katanas.

Anyway, the teacher was explaining it and had us get together to practice hand signs. After doing that for a little while, we had to practice palm sticking with paper. Essentially that just means making your chakra stick a piece of paper to your hand.

A lot of people picked it up right away, like Sasuke, Hinata, a girl named Sakura, and Shikamaru. And even though not everyone else mastered it right away, there was still progress being made by the whole class. Like even Naruto could stick the paper to his hand for at least ten seconds.

Except me.

I couldn't do it. I kept trying, but I just couldn't do it. I watched the paper slip out of my hand over and over again. It was becoming maddening and super embarrassing. So I asked the teacher if he could help me and he did try, but it still wasn't working.

After a while, Iruka Sensei looked a little worried, and he eventually told us to keep on practicing, and he'd be back later. He eventually returned with Mom, and then Mom took me. Leaving that classroom with all my peers looking at me curiously was starting to scare me a little. Why do I have to go? Don't I just need more training?

Dad was waiting at the hospital when we got there. We were immediately put in a doctor's office. The cold medicine smell made me crinkle my nose, and I laughed when I noticed Dad doing the same. The moment the Doctor came in, the experiments happened.

They pushed chakra into me, X-rayed me, took blood samples, and other samples. A Hyūga was brought in to stare at me, which was really weird. They even did similar experiments on my parents.

It all ended with the Doctor sitting in front of me, spitting big words that only my parents understood. The gist of it, however, was that my chakra veins are very thin, and they weren't letting me get all the chakra I needed for simple things.

Also, there was no significant way that we could cure it. There are a few theories, but this condition is so rare that there are not many people to experiment on to try to cure it. There is no reason for why it happened. Some say it happens by random, or it happens while you're growing in your Mom's stomach, or it's hereditary. It also means that my chances of being a ninja are very slim. Because I have such small veins, it means my chakra reserves are also tiny. So I can't do a lot of jutsu without getting fatigued immediately.

Basically, I can't do ninjutsu or genjutsu without a considerable strain on my body.

My Mom cried, my Dad paced, and I just sat there, taking it all in.

I have to rely on my taijutsu entirely and utterly, and that concerns me. I didn't know why, but I knew that if I wanted to survive in this world, I have to have more than taijutsu.

"Is there anything you can do?" My Father grumbled as he sat back down. The Doctor stared at his clipboard for a moment.

"I have a theory of my own of how we may make her veins larger, but it would be a painful everyday therapy. You all would have to commit." My parents look down at me as if expecting an answer. So I gave them one.

"I want to be able to do... I want to be able to use my chakra, OK? If it's painful for now, at least, I'm stronger for later, and I can survive on my own. That's what should be important, right?" I was twirling my fingers and staring at the floor.

There was silence before my Mother looked back to the Doctor. "We agree, please try and help her." Her voice shook with every word.

The Doctor smiled and said, "I am 70% sure this will work, so let's discuss the process. Every day for the next couple of years, one of you, whoever is closest to her own chakra type, will have to force your own chakra through her veins. By doing this, you will be stretching the walls of her veins, and hopefully, they will be able to stay stretched out and let the chakra through faster. This will also hopefully make her chakra reserves grow larger. Just like how a stomach expands if you continue to overeat. So the first step is to find out which one of you has the closest chakra to her own."

He pulls out white strips of paper and hands them to my parents and me.

"I need you all to insert your chakra into the paper. If I know what chakra type you have, it will be easier to pick a candidate." He explained simply.

My Mother forced her chakra through the paper, and it was sliced in half. Then my Father inserted his chakra through it, and the paper crumbled into dirt.

"Now, you try and focus on pushing your inner energy into the paper." The Doctor said kindly to me.

I clenched my shoulders and squeezed the paper as hard as I could. I was practically crumpling the paper into a ball. After some minutes, I was getting red in the face, so Mom started to rub my shoulders and encourage me softly. Finally, I pushed the chakra through my veins and then… the paper crumbled into dirt.

The Doctor smiled and turned to my Father. "Looks like it'll be your job," he said softly. "I do not envy you."

The rest of the day was full of paperwork and instructions from the Doctor to my Father. Then we walked home in complete silence.

There was no cheerful laughter. There was no playing or storytelling.

Just a simple cold walk home with dread, anger, and the realization that I wasn't normal.

I love comments of all kinds!

Thank you and have a nice day!

TwisterOfLife

P.s This chapter has officially been updated! (pops party poppers)

Also I have a tumblr and deviantart under the same name where I post really bad drawings of Takara. Some of them are super old, and are from when I first wrote this story years and years ago so please be gentle with your judgment. lol.