Tainted Blood of a Ninja

The years went well for Mitsukai. She was now fifteen, slightly taller and leaner. She learned to take care of herself, going from village to village, offering assistance and earning money to buy more clothes, ninja tools, and food. If she planned to stay in a village long enough, then she would use some of her money to rent a hotel room for the duration of her stay. Otherwise, she was always on the road with her small backpack. Her physical look had changed dramatically. She no longer had the innocent sweet face she had when she trained with the Akatsuki; it was covered up with a black ninja mask. Her deep blue eyes often held no emotion and she rarely ever spoke unless it was necessary, like speaking with an employer about whatever task she had been given.

Since she didn't consider herself to be a traditional shinobi like others with her skills, she refused to dress like one. She had no particular taste in clothing. However, she knew she was a girl and it was often displeasing to her employers to see her dressed in a way that most considered to be the way a male would dress. So she asked a woman working in a clothing store to help her. She found a lilac silk shirt that appeared to be a button down but lacked buttons. To make matters worse, the sleeves were too long and were cut at a slant, reaching down to her ankles. The shoulder seams on the shirt were slightly torn but Mitsukai didn't care. The lady in the store thought that the shirt should have been thrown away but Mitsukai insisted on keeping it. The woman decided that Mitsukai was a little off. Mitsukai found a solid black stretch shirt that she believed would go well with black stretch shorts, and then found a lilac tank top. She loved the outfit. The woman watched in horror as she put on the black shirt and shorts, put the tank top over the thin shirt, and then lastly pull on the long sleeved shirt. Mitsukai didn't like the idea of the shirt flapping open so freely, so she found a gold sash to tie around her waist and made a small bow in the back. Lastly, she picked out a pair of sandals that had lilac straps to match her shirt. Although the woman tried to sell her a better looking uniform for a kunoichi, Mitsukai refused and purchased what she had on.

From that day forward, Mitsukai had her own "uniform".

Her hair had grown very long. She tried every thing to keep it cut but within a few weeks it was back to its original length and would stay that way. She decided to just keep it the way it was, color and all. It was too much of a hassle. She resolved to just tie the end up with a purple ribbon with a tag that she had found in a thrift store attached to it that had a few Japanese symbols written on it. Her bangs were long as well, covering the front of her face if she didn't push it to the side like she did often, usually out of habit.

After her first few "missions" (term used by her employers), she realized that she would have to keep wrappings on her right thigh and left arm (from the elbow down to her palm) to help ease the muscles in those areas. At first her jobs were simple household chores. Then one night she caught a man trying to steal from her employer's barn and stopped him. The man told her to move but she wouldn't; he then decided to just fight his way past her. She ended up dislocating his shoulder and after that, the farmer moved her up to more brutal jobs. He often sent her to help his other family members who would then send her to other family members or friends. Word spread and she had a little bit of fame to her name...but she didn't like it. It was too easy to get used to being used like that so she cut herself loose and decided to go to a village she'd never seen before...Konoha.

Mitsukai jumped from branch to branch, tree to tree, coming closer to the village walls up ahead. She had seen a great number of villages, and had heard many great tales about the Hidden Leaf village, Konoha; finally, she would get to see it for herself. Four years had passed since her escape from the Akatsuki, yet she had no memory of it. She could only remember waking up in a beautiful field of field of flowers and feeling as free as a bird.

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It was morning when she reached the gates of Konoha. It was nearly nine o'clock yet there was no sign of anyone. She walked through and looked around, amazed. She was slightly disappointed that it wasn't as lively as she had heard it would be. Another thing that disappointed her was the fact the village seemed to be slightly...damaged. There were construction sites every where, rebuilding houses, stores and shops...even the village walls itself.

'It seems as if they've recently been attacked...' She thought. She jumped into a tree to get a better look at the village as a whole. It was true. The village was slowly rebuilding itself from a recent invasion. She sighed, but it was inaudible. She had made the long journey, so it made no sense to just turn around. Maybe someone would need some help...She sat down on the branch and relaxed. Yes, she would stay here for a few days or more. It wasn't like she had somewhere else to be...

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Naruto walked in silence with his two teammates, Sasuke and Sakura. The loss of the Third Hokage weighed heavily on the three, each for their own reason. It was the only reason the three of them weren't arguing at the moment. They approached a bench that sat along side the only road out of the village. Sasuke sat down first, followed by Sakura. Naruto chose to stand.
"Ya know, I think it sucks that we didn't get to finish the Chuunin Exam." Naruto placed his hands behind his head and looked around.

"Yeah...It would have been great to see how Sasuke would have done." Sasuke leaned back on the bench as Sasuke leaned forward, weaving his fingers together and looked straight ahead. All three of them had been out of the hospital now for a few days and were just beginning to get their strength back.

Naruto looked at Sakura's blissful gaze towards Sasuke and frowned. It always got to him that Sakura adored someone who was such a jerk. "But I would have won! Believe it!"

"Sure." Sakura's reply was clearly meant to be sarcastic. Sakura usually would have argued with the loud-mouthed blonde, but wasn't really up for it today. It just seemed too soon to be loud.

Sasuke didn't so much as glance in Naruto's direction. "Naruto...you're such a loser. Sit down."

Naruto's face turned red with rage as he spun away from his teammates and looked up into the sky, expecting to see the sun. However, something else caught his eye...

"Hey, what's that?" Naruto squinted to get a better look. Sasuke and Sakura both looked up and followed Naruto's line of vision. Up in the tree, a silver haired girl was situated on a wide limb, fast asleep. She had straddled the branch and was leaned forward, flat on her stomach sleeping soundly, using her hand to cushion her face from the rough surface.

"It's a girl!" Sakura whispered and stood.

"Well, what the heck is she sleeping up there for?" Naruto scratched his head. He then cupped his mouth and shouted, "HEY! WHY ARE YOU--"

Sakura landed a well-aimed punch to the top of his head and watched him fall to the ground holding his head. "What did you do that for?"

Sakura put her hands on her hips, "You idiot! If you wake her up, she could fall and seriously get hurt! I think we should just go get Kakashi-sensei. He'll know what to do."

The two boys stared at the pink haired girl for a moment then nodded. They all raced downtown to Kakashi's apartment.

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Mitsukai heard a man's gentle voice and felt a gentle poke in her right shoulder. She stirred slightly, but didn't move.

"Kakashi-sensei, is she okay?" A loud little boy asked.

"I believe so, Naruto. She's only sleeping. However, I agree, Sakura. She looks pretty worn out and I've never seen her before...Hmm...I should move her closer to the ground--"

Mitsukai's eyes snapped open and she immediately jumped up and away from the silver haired masked ninja, landing on another branch. She pulled out a kunai and took her fighting stance, holding the kunai in her right hand. Her left hand made the tiger sign, ready for an offensive jutsu should the man make the wrong move.

"Whoa. Easy now. My team and I mean you no harm. We're just concerned that you could hurt yourself. Take it easy." The man put his hands slowly in his pockets and looked at her with one eye. Mitsukai looked at him and it was hard to keep from being captivated by his looks. He had hair just like her! Four years and no one was nearly as young as her with silver hair. She never knew what her father looked like, nor her mother; looking at the man before her, she now had an image to guess with. She slowly dropped her stance and put the kunai back in its holster on her thigh. "There you go. My name's Kakashi. What's yours?"

Mitsukai only stared. Names were not important to her nor did she particularly care to share hers with strangers.

Kakashi sensed that she wasn't exactly the friendly type so he moved on. "This is my Genin team." He looked down at them.

"My name's Naruto Uzumaki! One day, I'm gonna become the Hokage! Believe it!" The blond gave her a thumbs up that she promptly ignored. He was loud and obnoxious. So far she had no reason to want to stay.

"My name's Sakura Haruno." The bubble gum hair colored girl waved timidly with a broad smile. Mitsukai shuddered...She could just feel the girl getting on her nerves within the next few minutes.

The raven haired boy didn't say anything, shoving his hands into his black shorts pockets. When he finally looked up at her, his eyes were red. Mitsukai froze as a small fragment of her memory was unlocked. 'Red eyes...black hair...definitely a demon...'

She jumped down so quickly that Kakashi barely saw the movement. She stood in front of the boy and leaned closer. "Those eyes...I've seen them before..." She murmured. They all were slightly shorter than her so she had to bend down a bit to get a clear look. The boy gasped upon hearing her speak for the first time, however, her voice was so faint that none of the others knew she was speaking. "But he was older...colder..."

Sasuke's eyes widened with shock then narrowed as rage built up in him. There was only one other person in this world besides him who had his eyes...and that man had a death sentence. He balled his fists up tightly and closed his eyes. "Where is he now?"

Mitsukai leaned away from the boy. He certainly wouldn't get any answers from her with that tone. Mitsukai concluded from this brief interaction that Konoha wasn't all it was cracked up to be and turned to leave the village.

"Wait!" Sakura blocked her exit. "Why don't you stay? We have so many questions. Where did you come from? What's your name? Why are you here? How long will you stay...?”

Mitsukai closed her eyes and sighed inaudibly. As she predicted, the girl was getting on her nerves asking a bunch of questions she didn't want to answer at the moment. Mitsukai figured if she answered one question, the girl would shut up. She held up her hand and Sakura immediately got quiet. "My name is Mitsukai."

Kakashi jumped down and his eye gave the appearance that he was smiling, pleased that she decided to share something with them. "Well, Mitsukai, welcome to Konoha. Do you plan to be here for a while?"

Mitsukai thought about it. Even though the village so far was a disappointment, she had been planning on visiting for months. To leave after only being there for a few hours...would be a waste of her time. Reluctantly, she nodded.

"That's great. If you come with me, I can help you get a place to stay--"

Naruto cut him off and jumped in Mitsukai's face. "You can stay with me! I have my own apartment! Well, so does Sasuke--" He leaned forward and whispered loudly, "--but you don't want to stay with him because he thinks he's this great ninja when he really isn't--" Thankfully he moved away from Mitsukai. "--so how about it, huh?"

Mitsukai slowly shook her head. The boy was nuts...but she secretly liked his spunk. In fact, she looked at them and could honestly say that they were okay. It had been a while since people had welcomed her like this. It was great to be in someone's company who didn't want her to go do a million things.

Kakashi rubbed his head, "Sorry, you'll have to excuse Naruto. He can be a bit..."

"Hyper?" Mitsukai finished for him.

Naruto leaned in and examined her."Your voice sounds as if you're falling asleep...but you look wide awake to me." He squinted. Mitsukai put her hand on his forehead and gently shoved him away from her face and out of her personal space.

"Yes." Kakashi nodded, a bit embarrassed by his student. "Well, let's go. Come on, everyone."

"I have better things to do than to tag along." Sasuke shoved his hands into his pockets and turned to walk away.

"Very well, Sasuke. But remember that you guys are to train later on today at three." Kakashi reminded him. Sasuke merely waved his hand as recognition then disappeared. "Okay, you three. Let's go."

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Against her better judgment, Mitsukai agreed to lease an apartment for six months should she decide to stay longer than she planned. Kakashi and Sakura helped her buy things for her apartment that she could sell back to the store later when she decided to leave. By the time the essential things were put in their proper places and food was stored in the refrigerator, it was nearly 3:30.

"Oh yeah, I told Sasuke to be at the training grounds at three, didn't I?" Kakashi rubbed his head and chuckled. "I guess time flies when you're having fun."

Naruto's eyes got big. "SO THIS IS THE KIND OF THINGS YOU'RE DOING WHEN YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE MEETING US?!"

"Something like that." Kakashi stood and headed out the door. "Let's go."

Mitsukai stared around at what she was supposed to call home for the next few weeks. A small part of her was actually glad that she had a place to call home after so many years.

"Mitsukai?"

Mitsukai snapped out of her thoughts and looked up to see Sakura peeking around the corner at her. "Yes?"

"You can come if you want to. That way we can give you a...tour and show you some important places along the way. Who knows? Maybe you can learn a thing or two from watching us." Sakura smiled. It pleased Sakura to know that Sasuke had no interest in the homely girl. She hoped that they could be friends.

Mitsukai looked around her apartment once more and sighed. What else was there to do? She stood and followed Sakura out the door, locking it behind her.

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"This is Main Street. You'll find most of the businesses on this street." Sakura explained to a bored Mitsukai. It was like any other village...Yawn. "There's the bookstore, a barbeque shop--"

"Sakura, you can't forget Ichiraku! That place has the best ramen in the world!" Naruto's loud voice snapped Mitsukai from her daydream as they all trailed behind Kakashi as he lead the way to training grounds. When they finally got there, Mitsukai was ready to hit both Naruto and Sakura for their constant bickering about whether or not Sakura should have mentioned the ramen shop first.

"How is it that you're all late?" Sasuke asked. They looked up to find him in a tree, staring down at them with an annoyed look on his face.

"Sorry, Sasuke. We got a little carried away helping out our new friend." Kakashi pulled out an orange colored book and opened it.

Sasuke looked at Mitsukai. "Is she going to train with us too?"

For the first time, Kakashi actually thought about how fast she'd moved from the tree to Sasuke. 'She moves pretty fast for someone with no apparent ninja training...I should see what her skills are...'

"Yes, she is."

"She is?!" Naruto and Sakura's mouths hung open in shock.

"I am?" Mitsukai asked with a bit of dread in her voice.

"Yes." Kakashi answered them all.

"B-b-but she hasn't attended the Academy! She can't train with us unless she is at least a Genin, Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura countered. 'If she tries to steal Sasuke, I WILL KILL HER!' Inner Sakura spat fire.

Kakashi looked at Mitsukai. "How old are you?"

A puzzled look shown in her eyes as she thought about it...She didn't know for sure. She was often told that she looked a certain age but unfortunately couldn't remember her own birthday.

"It's alright, Mitsukai. You're about the same height as the others so we'll assume that you're their ages. As for her rank, Sakura, if I'm not mistaken that's usually determined by the Jounin appointed to each team. The Academy only gets you ready for the test the Jounin gives to determine if you're ready. With that said, I will decide if she's ready."

"And how will you do that?" Sasuke folded his arms, unhappy that this may prolong the training.

"The same way I tested you three," He pulled a single silver bell out of his pocket. "The bell test."

Their eyes popped open and mouths hung in utter shock. That test had taken them hours to complete! Mitsukai tilted her head to the side in interest.

"How will that test me?" She asked.

"Simple. You have to take it from me...but it won't be as easy as you think it would be." Kakashi held up the small silver bell then tied it to his waist and pulled out his book. "You three take a seat and watch."

"This is so stupid." Sasuke muttered going back to his spot in the tree. Naruto sat on the ground while Sakura chose to lean on Sasuke's tree."

Mitsukai, in order to get the bell, you'd have to act as if you want to kill me. I will not hold back and go easy on you." Kakashi looked down at his book and started to read. Mitsukai was slightly interested with his words.

'Kill?' A side of her was awakened as she studied him carefully. It had been too long since her mind was actually challenged like this...Maybe she would stay longer than she planned.

For the longest she just stood and stared at him, taking no fighting stance but instead assessing the situation...as someone whom she couldn't remember had taught her. There were only two things that came to her like second nature, fighting and jutsu. Her training had been drilled into her head to the point where she was always on guard, even in her sleep. She didn't know if he would remain defensive or switch to offensive. So she did what she knew best: she charged.

"Hey! I tried that!" Naruto pointed with a smile. It was nice to know that others thought the way he did.

Kakashi watched as the silver blur rushed towards him. She moved so fast he had to almost squint to make out her face. He dodged her punch, grabbed her arm, kicked her in the chest and watched her roll across the ground. "You should never just charge at your opponent, Mitsukai, it's--" He stopped when she disappeared.

They all looked around, trying to find her. Mitsukai hid in the bushes as she processed the information she'd just gotten. 'He could barely see me, so I know that my speed is his weakness. He will get offensive if I get to close to that stupid bell. So I'll have to use my speed to distract him long enough to get close...'

She smiled to herself and stood. She walked slowly to Kakashi and stood about forty feet away from him. She held up her hands and did the hand signs goat, pig, ox, dog, and snake. Kakashi sighed and put his book away as she created four clones of herself. "I guess I should pay attention to you then. I forget I don't know what you're capable of." He lifted his headband and uncovered his left eye. Mitsukai stared at it.

"Exactly how many of you have those eyes?" She asked.

Kakashi paused upon hearing this question because it gave the indication that she'd seen it before she met them. Before he could ask more about this, the clones took their places around him, making an invisible five point star. They then each turned and ran in a counter-clockwise circle around him, picking up speed with every complete circle. Kakashi tried to locate the real Mitsukai but because of the speed of the clones, it was harder than usual. Soon, in his eye, there was only a blur of blue chakra surrounding him. As if her speed and the light it created weren't enough, her movements created a strong wind that nearly immobilized him; it was too strong to move against. He felt a slight tug at his hip. The light faded and the wind instantly died down. He looked down and found that the bell was gone.

Mitsukai gave the bell to Naruto and jumped up into Sasuke's tree, claiming a branch on the opposite side of him. All of their mouths hung open.

"Did...you...see...THAT?! THAT WAS SO AWESOME!" Naruto smiled broadly looking at the bell in his hand. Sakura thought about how she had acted during their bell test and her shoulders slumped. Sasuke was outraged. If he had have been able to take the test by himself, he would have gotten the bell a lot faster.