Naruto 1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Okay I know people are waiting for the Inari Oneshots I promised so I'm taking the piss a bit with this but I just can't seem get back into the Inari character mind-set (if that makes sense O_o) at the moment but don't worry I'm still working on them and sorry again that it's taking so long!**

**So anyway this is more of a test, this idea has been rattling around for awhile now (even before Inari) but I'm not 100% sold on it so I'm just interested to see what kind of reactions I'll get.**

**It's the classic OC rebirth thing that I love but there's twists as you'll find out and will eventually veer sharply away from canon. Don't be expecting another Inari because this is a lot more angsty and stuff, if you could review that would be fantastic since all I'm really interested in is knowing whether or not I should continue with this idea.**

**Sorry about the long ass A/N -.-**

**I don't own Naruto only the OCs.**

1

My name is…

My name is…

My favourite colour…

My birthday….

I was born on…..

I have….

I can….

My name is…

…

There was no transition. I saw no white light and heard no heavenly choir. There was no transition.

I was there, crumpled and weak with my insides all twisted up wrong and hacking up as I'd spent so long doing in that life, and I was pulled. There was no transition. I slipped from that body and began spilling out over the edge into another, from one container to another container trickling out like water between a clenched fist. There was no transition.

Squeezed in, pulled out, and pushed in place, fraying at the edges, loosing pieces in the slow sweep. There were hospital machines marking each pulse of my dying heart then there were bright lights and voices and the smell of heavy rain; and I blinked in and out between both. There was no transition. I was both places and both people then the bowl filled. I sighed and went blind and lost my grip on the one and fell into the other.

There was no transition.

….

Screaming was the first act I committed in this new world. Screaming with new vocals and clenching my fists against the powerlessness I had in it. I had never staked my claim with Gods or religion and I had felt the fear of mortality on that hospital bed. There were voices flitting in and flitting out in an unknown language and I couldn't snatch them. It was cold and I was naked and I was lost and I couldn't grasp anything.

The first thing I felt in this new world was confusion and fear.

….

_I was born on 26__th__ August._

_I couldn't breathe properly. I never could. Everyone was always so scared I would break._

….

I was born on the 15th December.

My mother died in child birth as many did, I did not know her so I did not mourn her except maybe the things she could have represented; lullabies, some haven warm and safe. That's what a mother is meant to mean, right?

…

_I lived with my grandmother most of the time. My parents both worked full time jobs and just couldn't be there, it used to make me cry but then again a lot of things made me cry and I'd sometimes just force it so everyone would stop and attend to me. _

_My grandfather said I was a baby. But honestly what did they expect from a child that they were too terrified to let grow._

_…_

I lived with my uncle. My father couldn't look at me and my grandmother was terrified but she tried to hide it well.

My uncle wasn't scared. The others are all worthless. They should know by now that the only thing that matters in Kirigakure is the power for survival. My uncle knew, he wrote the laws in blood.

…...

_I died in the summer. I couldn't give you a date; I faded in and out of myself too often in those days that time escaped me. I died how I lived, in a Hospital bed waiting to break. And the only thing I could think was 'is that it?'_

_…_

I was born on the 15th December and finally I could breathe. Whatever theories or memories that had been pulled through were forgotten for the moment, rubbed raw by the great aching hurt inside my stomach. My nerves were on fire and I was drowning but I could breathe and the shadowy voices and shadowy shapes flitting in and out of my senses did nothing to elevate it. I passed those few days alone, shadows hanging above me with bated breath prodding to make sure I still lived. I was cold and scared and naked. I was the pitiful little rat on the scientist's table. And still I hurt. It felt as though something far bigger than me, something with jagged edges and the hot, stinking breath of the monsters underneath the bed was crushed into this tiny space. And it hurt. This was hell. It had to be hell, the divine punishment for a life spent wasting slowly away.

…..

On the fifth day there was a voice and there was warmth and there was cold rain veiling the window. The voice was ushering in the lullabies and ushering out the nightmares so I gripped onto it with what little strength I had. Because I didn't want to be alone in the dark again. Pink eyes looked down at me through the blur and I felt the warmth pull tighter. He did not smile or frown just stared but not at me even though he was looking right at me. I would never gain his attention so easily. The voice kept singing and I wondered if this was the heavenly choir that had been promised.

…

I couldn't tell you when exactly I started crawling free of that place and feeling out for some identity. I couldn't tell you if I believed my situation to be a dream or not simply because I didn't know. There was no time to think on it and the world I'd been dragged into, naked and screaming and still covered in blood, was not a world that allowed you a respite.

I could tell you the first thing I saw (_really_ saw in that chaos) were my uncle's eyes. And the first thing I heard (_really _heard in the mess of screaming and foreign voices) was my uncle's voice. I don't know if he planned to be that little pocket of soft light in the swirling dark; if he'd planned it from the start to structure my loyalty to him and only him but it didn't matter. I never underestimated the power of fear and I never underestimated the power that thing that saves you from fear has over you.

I was not a terrible baby and I was not a good one. I would sleep most of the time, face scrunched up with the continual discomfort of something heavy sitting on my chest and when I was awake I screamed. I don't think I knew I was a baby then. I wasn't really aware of anything in those first weeks. They'd move me occasionally, feed me, change me but I paid it all no mind. I wish I could say I was curious or rebounded easily from the shock but no. I just lay there, sleeping or screaming, and struck dumb by the impact of my second birth.

I don't think I even believed there was a world outside those four walls. Maybe I had accepted this as some form of purgatory because it felt like that timeless, grey waste that the doomsayers spoke of.

The only respite was those pink eyes.

"Oji-sama," it would speak and I did not know what it meant but felt the force of the command stamped on my tongue.

When I finally left that place and when I finally did start talking months after that those were the first words I spoke and no one was surprised.

….

It wasn't until months after my birth that they finally allowed me leave from the four, concrete walls I'd been born into. By then the scraps had begun to settle and I could finally snatch up the pieces. I had died but I was alive. I had died a fifteen year old but I was living as a baby only three months old. I had died in a world of beeping machines and cars outside hospital windows but I was living in a world shrouded in mist and occupied by harsh faced strangers.

There wasn't really any room for disbelief. I had lived much of my past life in the hands of others, not knowing what they were doing or why so the news strangely enough was allowed to be without questioning. If I had fought it or denied it I still had no arsenal. I could feel the rough woollen material between chubby fingers, hear the rain and smell the smoke of furnaces burning. What could I combat these sensations with? A mantra of 'this is impossible'?

Who was I to judge what was and was not impossible, all I could base it on was my own limited knowledge and in that limited knowledge there was no wisdom of the other side prior to my death. I knew no confines of what is and what is not normal for the afterlife. So I let it be. I allowed the situation to sink in without question or hesitation. This **was **my situation and there was nothing more to think of it. Besides, a part of me whispered, who didn't want to be someone else. I had been nothing before and I had no grasp of what I was now but I_ had_ to be better, there was no way I could be worse.

It was a thought that was tempered slightly by the constant internal pressure this form carried. My new body was always under a sensation of stress. Stress because an anonymous energy was beating through it and against it and I didn't seem to be an adequate conductor. It caused aches and pains, made my body feel worn and crackling with electricity all at once. I tried to vocalise my discomfort and only succeeded in receiving misunderstanding attention. They thought I wanted changing or feeding when in reality I wanted them to lift the force tearing at my seams. Have you ever walked around in a shoe several sizes too small for your feet? I constantly felt like the penny shoved in-between your toes.

The sensation was only relieved by the presence of the pink eyed figure; a creature I was coming to both fear and worship simultaneously. There was something authoritative about the man who spoke in a voice barely above a whisper yet so loud the room fell silent before it. It was power. A pure, unrivalled power that draped over him that broke no argument because you knew instinctively in that primal part of your mind that he could and would destroy you. At that time I didn't know who he was nor could I even see him clearly all I knew was the man owned me.

It was him who carried me out the place; he was the only being who had spent more than scarce minutes in my company. I tried to look out at this new world but all I saw was grey. In fact had I not known he was carrying me and had I not felt the air chilled and biting against the soft skin of my bare face I wouldn't have known I'd left at all. The man stopped as another murky shape came into view. It spoke to him in a language I did not know and did not recognise. The man who held me looked down at me then. It was the first time he had looked directly at me and I felt everything wrapped up inside this body still. The point of those pink eyes was intense as they stared directly at me with no apology and no need for one.

"Ren," the man whispered in reply.

This address stamped an identity. I was not completely beneath his attention. Fear and elation fought for supremacy.

**A/N:**

**So, what did you think? I'd be really greatful if you could drop by a review ^_^ To clear any confusion, Ren is the character's name. She is the daughter of Yagura's , the Fourth Mizukage's, sister and the three tails was planted in her instead of him.**

**Thanks for reading.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **

**I don't own Naruto, only the OCs.**

2

I think I might have expected this world to be like the last. In fact I hadn't expected a different world at all. I hadn't expected this.

The first view I got of this place was when I was nearing a year old. Movement was easier now and I could speak a few limited words. I'd tried to communicate in English but all attempts were ignored by the three people who hovered constantly over my shoulders. They didn't speak to me, their faces and clothes were plain and unchanging. I at times would wonder if they were human at all. Teaching and the basics of care was all they offered. Words upon words upon words. Pulling and holding my limbs into movements that confused me but I was still requested to copy. Long spaces of sitting as stationary as possible and breathing in great slow sweeps. I'd never been around a baby before but I was pretty certain this was not common parenting behaviour.

They were trying to alter my temperament also in subtle ways. They rewarded me for displays of aggression and dominance, if I were to slap at one for removing a picture book instead of a scolding I was given treats. I was not punished for stealing just for being discovered. The only negative acts they did not encourage were laziness and stupidity. I tested them all and I did not understand. What could they possibly gain from rearing a child to the stance of I am greater because my strength is greater. I didn't want to play their games and yet I found myself unconsciously stealing or awaiting reward after lashing out. This worried me far more than anything else. I hadn't known myself well enough before to know whether or not this behaviour had always been part of my personality (I'd been too weak to lash out even if I wanted to) but nonetheless I began sectioning this part away.

Despite these flashes of another stronger, phantom presence in my behaviour I remained very much as I had arrived. Terrified and confused. There was no identity in this either just a cornered animal darting about with wide eyes. Which left me questioning who exactly was I? I could not garner any clues from the memories that plagued me and they too were slowly slipping free like Autumn Canopy.

There was one constant dream that made me wake shaking. In those dreams I stood on a lake of dark water, the surrounding area was completely blanked in darkness (far too black to be night even) and the only light given was the faint blue glow that breathed up from the bottom of the dark water. The lake and I could only imagine the surrounding area also was blanketed by thin mist rising up from the surface of the water and slinking in between my limbs. It was completely silent save for the great rumbling of breathe from some other unseen, giant entity. There was nothing traditionally terrifying about the dreams, no monsters pursuing me, no quicksand dragging me under but the sense of something far bigger and far out of my control always clung.

There were two respites. The first came in the form of something I imagined others would find frustrating in this situation. It was the shaky measured progress of doughy limbs. Someone who could run and climb in their previous life would I'm sure chafe at the weak, lumbering movements this body allowed. I, however, had spent much of my previous life bed ridden and even these literal baby steps were enough to make my heart race with excitement. I had been trapped before in a body that was always buried under limitations; this new one only brought promise of future capabilities. You couldn't possibly understand how exciting that was, it was like giving a crippled man legs.

The second came in the form of the pink eyed stranger I learnt was my uncle. He rarely spoke and never directly to me. He would enter the plain nursery I inhabited, feet barely touching the tatami mats, and the three carers would vanish instantly. Then he would just sit there and stare at me for minutes on end.

Each visit was anticipated with a mixture of enthusiasm and dread. The man was small in height and weight, soft faced and had a high lilting voice. In every physical sense he appeared innocent and completely unintimidating despite the silvery line of removed stiches under his right eye. But you'd have to blind not to see the way his presence easily stretched out and filled every nook and cranny of space. Everyone was terrified of him. Everyone. From their fear brought respect because in Kirigakure power is everything and my uncle though small and child faced was a towering giant in that respect.

He never raised his voice, never moved unless it was perfectly controlled and deliberate and he never ever allowed insight into whatever was churning about in his head. His face remained utterly collected and utterly neutral in any situation, what level of control that took was staggering. What it did when it just sat there facing me had much the same effect. What was he thinking when he sat there, unblinking and focused solely on me? Was he looking _for_ something or _at_ something? I didn't dare question him, I didn't even look at him just waited until he gained his satisfaction and glided back out the room again, leaving me to release a shaky breath that was equal parts relief and disappointment. Because my uncle was the only human I'd come into contact with in this world to look _at_ me directly.

It was such a simple thing but the lack of acknowledgement from the few humans I had contact with was crippling. It was only the blunt and impassive point of those two pink pupil-less eyes that allowed me identity. The eyes had confused me, the ashy brown grey hair colour and the clothes also but still I hadn't suspected a different world until that first day outside. It was my uncle who led me out of room as he'd carried me out of the one before almost a year ago. He'd sat there as he usually did, complete silence the overbearing and inescapable force of his eyes on me broken as he spoke.

"Ren, we are going outside," his voice was polite as always but it was still a command. My uncle never asked for anything just civilly demanded it and I'd never seen a case when it was not complied.

I had frozen the moment he spoke to me. Namely due to the presence of the man's voice in what had been a stifling silence and partly because he had used my name. He was the only one to actually do so as the three carers would tend to avoid addressing me at all and when they did it was usually with some strange title I did not understand. 'Three Tails' was the less common one (though I hadn't seen my reflection I could still safely say I hadn't got three tails) and Jinchuriki the most. I had no idea what either meant, I had no idea what was even going on most of the time but I was too unnerved by the characterless trio to question them.

It took a moment for my uncle's statement to fully sink in. 'Going outside'. I had been in this body for a year and the only time in which I'd tasted outside air was my transition from one dull, bare room to another.

"Oji-sama?" I instantly wanted to bite my tongue. You did not question this man. **Ever**. But the shock of the statement had shook lose my fear for a moment.

My uncle courteously disregarded the momentary lapse and did not reply as he stood in one slick, impressive movement and crossed the bare room. He opened the door and did not aid me as I stumbled to my feet and hurried after him. He would never help me. If I wasn't strong enough to do it myself I wasn't worth anything at all.

…..

My first thought when I saw Kirigakure for the first time was something had gone fundamentally wrong.

There had been nothing (to my knowledge) like this before. Then again there hadn't been people with pink eyes and no pupils before but that slip paled in comparison to the shadow theatre of 'Bloody Mist' rising up before me. I stilled at the door and instinctively reached out for my uncle's hand but he moved it minutely and my desperate attempt for support sailed harmlessly past. Once again he said nothing but I got the message all the same, 'do not do that again'.

I think I was distantly aware of the shaking in my legs.

Because the world I had been born into gave me that much more reason to be scared. The lack of contact, the loneliness, the confusion and the sense of never knowing exactly what the only person in this place I felt remotely connected to was thinking all shrunk under that first image of my new home.

Kirigakure was obscured through a thick, watery mist that did not dispel under the heavy beat of rain. It was a world bathed in blues and greys and so shockingly similar to the purgatory imagined that I began to rethink my reincarnation theory. The area was surrounded on all sides by the jagged slope of mountains and the brackish, green vegetation tumbling down them. The mist rose up half their height before thinning out from the heavy blanket that fermented the lower levels to a wispy state.

The streets were quiet, shadows slipping cagily in and out of the sombre grey and none of the noise of life that I expected from a place so large. There should have been, the great circular structures built from huge grey blocks and embellished only with long, slit-like windows and tops of the same thick, sprawling plants should house hundreds. There were tens of their unwavering shapes in the fog, set a good distance between each other, varying in size and separated here and there by thin, high walls. So where was all the noise? Why did it feel like the entirety of Kirigakure was holding its breath? It was eerie, _this place was eerie_. I felt as though I'd made an unwelcome appearance into some strange, sombre ghost world. My eyes darted about and I rubbed my palms against my clothes in hopes of wiping away the sweat because something about this place was so dangerous and unknown.

My uncle paid no attention to my obvious trepidation, only continued to walk on and the reason behind his decision became apparent. Another uprising, another clan wiped brutally from this earth made evident by the few marks of destruction on the stone. Now my uncle was showcasing the little weapon he was so carefully cultivating to a village full of people who wanted his blood. Of course I wasn't aware of my status and only vaguely understood the standing my uncle had at the time but the intent was all the same. My uncle stepped off the broad, grey stone that squatted underneath the doorway and I followed subserviently. The few people looking out from windows carved into the stout faced stone drew further back and those littering the streets changed direction entirely. My uncle didn't even glance at them just kept his gaze dead ahead and apathetic to their presence.

I however was not. Have you ever walked into a room full of people and had every single one stop what they're doing just to stare at you. It felt like _every_ single pair of eyes in Kirigakure was watching me, judging me like I was a mass murder at a children's party. I didn't know what I'd done to receive the terrified glances behind my uncle's back. I didn't know what I act I could have possibly committed during my one year of life that could warrant those eyes.

Maybe I was horrendously deformed? I hadn't seen my reflection yet so it was an easy assumption. It most definitely had something to do with my uncle but the eyes were as much focused on me as they were on him.

So what was wrong?

**A/N:  
Just popped another chap up so there's more to read. Like I said in the last if you could give me any incentive as to whether or not I should continue with this I'd be really grateful because I'm still not 100% sure.**

**Thanks for reading**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I don't own Naruto, only the OCs.**

3

It was during my nineteenth trail around the open catacomb streets of Kirigakure that I learnt why. I was barely past three years old at this point and had adjusted to many realisations. In fact what surprised me most was my capability to adapt to change.

Hidden Village.

Shinobi.

Chakra.

I could barely remember my family anymore, had little to no idea of who that girl who had wasted away in a hospital bed was or had been. The revelation that I was pulling free of that person like a caterpillar drags itself out of a cocoon brought no shame and no sadness. Largely because everything I was gaining would be far more invaluable than what little I'd had.

It was a cold way of thinking but in Kirigakure you had to be cold to survive and my survival was proving to demand even more apathy from me.

Sparta. That would be the easiest comparison. The ritual of slaughtering your classmates to graduate suitably reinforced that comparison. There was no system of support, if you had no money you starved in the streets, if you'd lost limbs in battle you starved in the streets, orphans were given no homes unless they could prove their strength though most managed to run about in gangs of wild eyed children that beat to death other children over disputes of territory. It all seemed such a mess when slowly I became aware of the nature of the world I now lived in but there was law to this chaos. The feeble and helpless were not tolerated, protecting them made you weak in turn and this village would not permit itself to become weak. So Kirigakure existed in a constant state of proving, the stronger ones clambering up over the weak and everyone reaching up and grasping for the top. It was like watching a pit full of starving dogs.

And my uncle, he was the one sitting atop the pile of bones watching as everyone else crawled over one another.

Yagura.

The Fourth Mizukage.

Uncle.

It took a while to understand what that meant, the chokehold my uncle had over such a sad, vicious place where people answered to him in equal amounts of assassination attempts and unwavering respect. There were very few things that annoyed my uncle but uprisings or disobedience to him in any form was one. At three years old I'd seen plenty put to death for crimes against Kirigakure by that point as nearly all executions were public. Crying, I learnt, was something else he would not tolerate.

So at first I palmed off the distance between myself and the other villagers as a combination of instinctive suspicion and my connection to such a figure of abject fear. It wasn't as though there were children running around the streets playing ball anyway since the children of the bloody mist (those that survived past two years) were all hard faced and old eyed and far more likely to be running around the streets with blunted weapons than balls.

I fully expected myself to have a lack of interest in citizens biologically my age but it seemed with each year more and more of my previous life was lost and more and more of this one crept in. I was becoming the three year old shinobi child and steadily shedding away the fifteen year old trapped in another body. I supposed that the flashes of memory that were eaten up every night like electricity sparking over a wire were my minds way of protecting me. Regardless it meant I still had the urge to connect with another human being my own age and to find them all shrinking away from me was frustrating.

In fact what drew my conviction from my previous assumption was the first time someone had addressed my uncle on these walks. He was obviously a Council member and a very wise one if the careful mixture of pride and submission he kept in my uncle's presence was any judge. They were speaking of things I didn't understand and mentioning people I did not know so I continued to follow behind my uncle like his shadow until I felt the council member's gaze card over me quickly without really sticking.

"This is the Jinchuriki?" he had asked my uncle cutting me out of the conversation entirely.

My uncle nodded and continued as if it was nothing but I felt something shift. Jinchuriki. What did that word even mean? I hadn't found it in any of word books the carers saddled me with. I knew from the distasteful tone he'd said the word in, the flash of morbid curiosity in his eyes when he saw me like I was some exotic form of plague that the turned backs and wary eyes given to me were no longer because of my uncle and entirely to do with me.

I waited until the Council member had taken his leave, his rake-like stature dissipated into the heavy mist, before turning to my uncle.

"Oji-sama," I spoke and my voice wavered.

Yagura's eyes flicked down to me once in a silent 'yes?'

"What's a…Jinchuriki?" I asked then felt the horrible knotting of worry as the only sound for the next few minutes was the beat of two steps against the floor.

"A Jinchuriki is a human being who has a tailed beast sealed inside them. They are weapons for their village."

Weapons.

I lifted the chubby fingers of my hand towards my face. It was so small. How in the world could that possibly be a weapon?

"Tailed beasts?" I murmured.

"Demons."

Demons.

Weapons.

Inside me.

I slowly raised my head to look out at the shadowy figures that slunk back at mine and my uncle's presence.

No, this didn't make sense.

….

I started to notice things I hadn't before. And it **did** all make sense. The internal pressure constantly bearing down on my own. The intent focus of the three carers to shape me into something more applicable to my title. The dreams. The damned eyes watching me warily from windows.

Before I'd thought my uncle had denied me contact with anyone outside himself and the three constant shadows hanging over my shoulder but now I was realising the blunt truth.

It wasn't that anyone was _forbidden _to interact with me just that nobody_ wanted_ to.

There had been times in this new world that I'd longed for my old body. The first time I saw a traitor's head cleaved clean from his neck before his body was kicked away; the times when I only had the bland presence of the three carers in the room and I felt like screaming just so there'd be some noise; the time when I'd seen a baby tucked up in the arms of his mother crying but the mother was too deaf with starvation to act. Yes, this world was not a kind one and this place I lived in was unforgiving and cruel but this new revelation was making me half desperate for escape.

I didn't want to be a demon.

**A/N:  
Super short chapter so I'll probably update again later. After receiving a positive review for this and a favourite and follow I'm guessing that it's readable...hopefully :D So fear not! I will continue writing!**

**Thanks for reading.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I don't own Naruto only the OCs.**

4

Four years in this life and my days had settled into a gruelling routine of non-stop training only punctured by my uncle's visits. The training itself was not too strenuous, they didn't want to damage my body while it was still developing and despite everything my 'weapon' status meant I was a valuable tool to the Bloody Mist. It centred mainly around chakra control and building my reserves (simple practices repeated daily) then moved onto the history of Kirigakure and Jutsu theory and then finally the Water Style Jutsus I was required to complete or attempt each afternoon.

I wasn't necessarily a prodigy or a genius nor did I gain an instinctive understanding of the techniques but my entire life revolved around these progressions. I was given almost constant attention and opportunity so it was little surprise that even in Kirigakure I was considered advanced for my age (though as mentioned before this was through no merit of my own but just relentless education, after the amount of training I got I'd be surprised if a deaf, blind monkey wouldn't be considered advanced).

I had no hobbies, no real personal preferences and truthfully no personality. I could feel the odd jolts of individual character itching to come out but I squashed them down before the smirk or the laugh had even materialised. It wasn't in any attempt to correlate myself with the shinobi mind-set the carers were attempting to strap me into, it was simply my unwillingness to accept my situation. Denying myself a personality was like denying myself presence and if I wasn't here it couldn't be happening.

Hours rolled into days into weeks into months and I realised that I wasn't just going to wake up or disappear. Still I couldn't accept it. I couldn't accept what my uncle had told me.

"I'm going out."

The three carers, each one stationed in a triangle shaped perimeter around me paused and stared as I lifted myself up, knocking the glass of water I'd spent the last twenty minutes manipulating over as I did so.

"Jinchuriki you have not finished your exercises," one spoke but it was impossible to tell which as all three were constantly swathed completely in loose black, fitted clothing only the strip of eyes visible.

"I've had enough for today, I'm going out," I repeated as I continued to the door.

There were no windows in the room, the walls were all slate grey and the floor covered in tatami mats. A bed, a bookcase and a chest full of objects needed for my training stood as the only decorations beside a single, white faced clock which was my sole means of measuring the time.

"Understood Jinchuriki, we will contact Mizukage-sama in regards to your request."

"I want to go out_ alone_," I said.

It was silent for a moment before another, "understood Jinchuriki" and I was finally permitted to leave the room.

….

I wasn't sure what I was realistically expecting; the village that was perpetually surrounded in mourning clothes of ominous thick mist to suddenly be bathed in sunshine or for the villagers to pull me aside and ask with concern if I was lost and needed help. It took me awhile to navigate my way out of the Mizukage's office since the place was a hive of stone grey walls and bare floors. Finally stepping out I saw that Kirigakure had not changed just for my wellbeing and felt foolish that I had for a second hoped it would.

After years of living here and the monthly walks my uncle would allow I was much better at navigating through the heavy curtains of mist. Since the village had a distinct lack of social gathering and the few places I could find a group of people enjoying each other's company without them murdering someone or plotting to murder someone were behind closed doors or the tea houses restricted to adults there was only one place I could hope to find children my own age without being mugged, attacked or both.

It was the slums further from the Mizukage's offices. Discarded rubbish slumped in-between the short, crumbling circles were a home to the younger children who were too weak to snatch food from hard-handed vendors or roves of pipe wielding gang kids. Occasionally the stronger children would swoop in and pluck any treasures these children could find but for the majority this place was ignored. I hesitated as I made my way towards the mounds of restaurant leavings and discarded furniture or more namely the five children huddled around them, picking through each pile like crabs in a rock pool.

It didn't make sense for me to be so nervous. Of course I'd had little human interaction besides with my uncle but these children surely didn't know me. I was going to prove that I was just normal like everyone else. They looked my age, what could a four year old seriously do?

_I lifted the chubby fingers of my hand towards my face. It was so small. How in the world could that possibly be a weapon?_

Shaking away those thoughts and ignoring the foreboding knot in my stomach I coughed once. The five children didn't look up, two slunk round the back of one pile of garbage and I could hear the tell-tale clinking of metal against metal as they continued to throw junk over their skinny shoulders.

"Hello," I tried again, a little shocked at the unused, raspy edge to my voice.

"Eh?" the little boy in front of me grunted but didn't turn.

His hair was tied messily with an elastic band and reached the floor as he squatted down to shift through the junk. I could make out the shape of a battered pair of goggles on his head, one glass frame completely shattered while the other was lacquered with scratches. He was bare-chested and bare footed, the only visible article of grey clothing were oversized, ratty shorts and he stunk. It all stunk. I'd gotten used to the almost clinical lack of smell in the Mizukage's offices and the smell of damp earth that coated Kirigakure. But these children and this slum absolutely reeked of human waste and rotten vegetables.

What was I supposed to do now?

"I..erm," I began but was sharply interrupted.

"No time to talk, busy, busy, it's dark soon. Got to finish before it's dark, busy, busy, no time," the boy yammered like some strange bird.

"I could, er, help you if you wanted?" I offered since I wasn't really sure what else to do and felt the need to do something.

"Huh? Yeah, yeah, sounds good, what'd you want? 50-50 if you're fast, I'd say more, hrmmm, 60-30 if you can't get it done before-" the quicksilver of words flashing out the boys mouth curled up and died as he wiped his hands on his tattered shorts and finally swivelled on the balls of his feet to face me.

I watched as all the colour visibly drained from his face. The other three visible children stiffened as the can the boy had been gripping slid from his grasp with a small 'thunk' then they too were all staring at me.

I felt myself shrink under their scrutiny. I could almost physically feel the distance being drawn out between me and them. And the way they were looking at me. I felt like the wolf that'd been discovered trying to infest a herd of sheep.

I smiled closed eyed up at them even though I could feel every fibre of my being shaking under their anxious gaze.

"That's alright I, er, I can help for free. You don't have to give me anything," my voice was shaking.

I took one step towards the boy and his knees almost buckled while the others gasped and recoiled. Then they were up and scrambling down the mountain of rubbish. Some screamed as they ran like I was…I was…

"A monster," I whispered.

…..

I don't know how long I stood there next in-between the towers of junk. I was choking on the fear in their eyes, the shaking in their voices and the way they'd fled from a four year old girl who was trying to find proof that she was a fellow human being.

I'd been wrong.

**I was a monster.**

This wasn't fair, wasn't right. What had I done to deserve this?

No, that didn't matter. What stupid questions and what stupid thoughts. I'd been in this world for four years now if I should have learnt anything then it should be this. Nothing here was fair or right. But still…

Monster.

Demon.

I stared blankly at the spaces the children had occupied without really seeing. I was so small in this place; even the piles of trash were bigger than I was, so how could they be scared of me? My uncle. That fear was perfectly understandable. He practically vibrated with smothering energy. But what exactly was there in me to be so terrified of? A demon. I wasn't a demon. I couldn't be. I wouldn't hurt anyone. I knew what it took to survive here but I lived in my uncle's shadow and that offered a cloak of protection from what these street children _had_ to do every day. So how could I?

"Arghh," I groaned.

My hands fumbled up to clasp my stomach where the constant pressure was growing thicker as it throbbed and trebled with each aimless question my mind drifted to. My knees hit the floor hard and I curled into a ball, fingers clawing at my skin as if they could pull it loose and allow whatever it was pulsing thicker and faster inside me some form of release. My head pushed itself against the floor as I writhed with the sensation of my skin pulling tighter around me, crushing my bones as the heartbeat of something else bloomed viciously inside my chest.

That's when I saw it. As the fringes of my grip on the world began peeling back I saw it. Written above a sleeping giant made from discarded personal belongings a single word had been painted across the wall in thick, white brush strokes. Hello.

Hello in English.

I was slipping. I'd almost forgotten the language and still couldn't place the import that this revelation had in my current waning state. But it was something I should, right? It meant something didn't it?

"Hello," I whispered numbly.

Then I finally slipped free of consciousness.

That was likely how he found me. Unconscious, nails digging into my skin, limbs still curled tight against the pressure. What a scene I must have made, a little girl that housed a demon, limp and broken among the piles of rubbish with a foreign word from home still dripping from her lips.

**A/N: **

**So this chapter is bigger. I'm really surprised at all the positive feedback, very, very pleasantly surprised of course. I really didn't expect it. Okay so as to updating it will, hopefully, be every other day because I haven't got as many chapters logged ready on this as I would like there to be but I still find it hard to resist the temptation of just sticking everything I've got so far up.**

**Thanks for reading.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I don't own Naruto.**

_Hello: English._

Hello: Japanese.

5

When I woke it was to the smell and sound of fire burning. Heat crawled along my fingers making the once freezing skin itchy with the sudden temperature change. The heavy scent of wood burning and the crackling undertones of a fire made me lift my eyelids open. They did not build fires in my room. It was permanently chilled. Kirigakure was cold and wet and blue. This place was warm and soft and red.

The deep brown of old oak met my eyes, each plank decorated with small holes, whorls of almost blank and veins of the same colour. A thin, red blanket was tucked around my body. I wasn't used to that. My blanket was thick and quilted against the cold night air and the same deep indigo as the plain pants and shirt I donned. I wasn't used to the earthy smell of fresh soil and tree sap either.

Where was I?

Had I been born again?

The thought instantly brought a mixture of relief and oddly enough a pang of distress. Who's to say this world was not worse than the one I left? Was I just to be a traveller, sliding from one world to the next with no roots, no real memories and presence just the thumbprint on a photograph? And my uncle. He would be furious. I didn't want to leave him. Ridiculous considering the man had never shown me a sign of any affection but the unyielding, stone presence of him had become something I was fastened so tightly to. I don't think I could survive without my uncle and that thought was terrifying.

Slowly and still groggy from the grimy resurface into awareness I turned my head against the pillow and looked out at whatever setting I had been transplanted in. Dully I realised that I was still in this world, still in the child demon body. I could tell from the circular shape of the walls, the grey stone they were cut from and the brushstrokes of the pages littering their surface. In the centre of the room was a small open pit, filled with logs and a steady fire that heated the little, black pot suspended above it by a chain attached to the ceiling. The room was mostly bare save for a large desk opposite me, laden with papers and inks and various other writing tools all stacked and organised neatly around a large chessboard that took the brunt of the space. The pieces didn't match and most looked odd, I strained my eyes to see a fox, a cat and an ape before they became too indiscernible. Beside that was a stone bath with two squat cupboards either side and shelves filled with bottles of herbs and lotions above it. I realised I was occupying the only bed; a bunk cut from a square of wood and only accessible by the rectangular I was staring out of.

But none of this took my interest. What did was the space of wall where furniture had been pushed away from. It was completely covered in scraps of paper and each scrap was linked to one or several others by thin pieces of twine until it became some strange, chaotic map. Leading to what, I had no idea but it hardly seemed to matter. The world was this, one tiny circular room, and everywhere within had permeated with the smell of wood smoke and wet ink.

_"You're awake."_

I jolted and almost scurried beneath the blankets like a frightened animal. And I was a frightened animal. There hadn't been ('couldn't be' a part of me whispered) a person in this world who hadn't feared me beside my uncle. Those were not the melodic, light tones of Yagura. And I knew what become of those who were feared when they were defenceless. I'd paced through enough gutted clan compounds after a Kekkai Genkai had been scourged.

"You're awake."

I paused. Only then did I notice the change in language. English. The currently disembodied voice had been speaking English. Suspiciously I peered out at my surroundings again and that's when I saw him.

He had been difficult to spot beforehand, the grey swathes of cloth that hung all about him melded into the stone wall he was leaning against. He was about twenty if I had to estimate, leaning against the wall and watching me intently with two dark hawk-like eyes. Numbers, that's all I saw in those eyes, numbers and statistics and thousands upon thousands of scientific principles. His face was sharp and thin making his appearance unattractive and weasel-like but by no means intimidating. He wore his muddy blonde hair short, effeminate, loose baby curls that painted an oxymoron when coupled with his displeasing face. There were half-moon spectacles sitting on the bumpy ridge of a long, beak-like nose.

"Can you speak _English_?" the voice continued and it was as clean-cut, a little sharp and a little feeble all at once, "you said hello before."

"_English_?" I repeated but the words were fractured and hollow, more mimicry than original creation.

The language of my beginning had no place on this tongue just like the memories and emotions of that before home had no place in this heart and this head. But I remembered shattered pieces. It was difficult, it made my head ache.

The man's eyes sparked with interest and I recoiled under the now systematic scrutiny he was aiming at me as if I had become a particularly interesting lab specimen.

"_Yes, English. Then I can conclude you aren't originally from this place either and if English is your language you came from the same world I did if not a world with exactly the same language which doesn't seem impossible considering they speak Japanese in this one."_

I pulled myself further against the wooden wall. I'd understood none of that. What was he talking about? What was going on? The man paused in his rambling and blinked at me twice before peering at me over the top of his glasses.

"_You __can__ understand me, can't you?"_

Whatever he'd asked my blank, petrified expression seemed enough answer.

_"I see."_

His face grew grave, the tiny flickering of his eyes were quicksilver as they snatched up every centimetre of me. It was like being squatted in front of a huge hawk, no notion as to what he was thinking but the very pressing sense that whatever it was it was detrimental to my health that I know. Then instantly the serious expression washed away and his lips lifted into a gentle smile.

"Is this easier?" he asked kindly but the kindness only made me more edgy.

I nodded. I wanted to get out of here. Uncle. Uncle wouldn't save me but his presence would be enough to dispel the insect man and his paper note maps.

"Do you know who you are? Do you know what happened to you?" he moved to rifle through his desk and smiled an 'A-ha' as he pulled a clipboard, paper and pens from a drawer, "any previous memories?"

Previous memories?

He…he couldn't….

"That's impossible," I whispered.

Something was clawing up me and gripping the erratic beating of the muscle in my chest.

"I'll take that reaction as a yes," the man smiled to himself as he jotted something down, "now what do you remember?"

Remember.

I…I don't understand. I'm not meant to remember am I? Is everyone else like this? Was there a way to get back? Not to that prison of a body but to that world. A safe world where criminal executions are something you hear about on T.V. and miles and mile away; where death is never really a reality until it's staring right at you. The memories are so few, barely even memories and inexorably becoming rumours of rumours. But still it has to be better than this. Suddenly the man with the clipboard and distasteful face has become a messiah. He knows and that makes him precious.

"Can we…can we go back? I don't understand what's happening, please, we need to get out of here," I'm almost struggling out of the bed sheets to reach him as if me standing near his presence will suddenly open a gateway back.

The man chuckles like I'm a stupid child that's asked a stupid question but he will humour me all the same, "I'm afraid there isn't, well none that I'm aware of besides of course dying again and hoping for the best. Now what can you remember, how about we start nice and easy. A name. Can you remember you're old name?"

Name?

I had a name before Ren?

The man sighs lightly and pushed his glasses up by taking the corner between two long, thin fingers, "_Hello. My name is….?"_

_"Hello,"_ I parrot.

"And?"

I only stare at him desperately. What is he doing? I don't understand, are we going?

"My name is…?" he rolls his hand as he says this and lifts both brows at me in prompt.

"Ren," I answer.

"No, your other name," he says flatly as he redirects his attention to whatever he's recording on his clipboard.

"My only name is Ren," I reply perplexed.

"Really?" his head promptly snaps up from his writing and I see the glint of interest there again, "what can you remember?"

I frown as my fingers dig through the mire of fog, there's barely anything anymore. There were bare scrapes left after the nocturnal cleanses and even those caused migraines to conjure. But I wanted to gain this man's approval so he in turn would deliver me with answers.

"T.V.," I struggled, "Hospital beds…er…cars."

The man's face went lax and there was something, something heart-breaking in the open wounds on his features, "nothing else? No name? No age? No…family?"

I tried for another moment then hesitated to confirm his question.

"_I see."_

"Do you know anything else, Ren-san?" he asked, all previous expression had fled and that clinical interest had returned in full force.

"No, I just need to get out of this world or out of this body," I replied, leaning forward again with desperation.

"This body? Why the body in particular?"

I froze.

I couldn't tell him.

He'd run.

The eyes on me.

Monster.

Demon.

"_I see_."

I lifted my head at his voice and there was a wave of convulsion as whatever previous expression he had been wearing washed away into that kind smile again.

"Tea?" he asked, still smiling and tone friendly.

I eyed the pot with obvious suspicion and he laughed, "Little one if I were to kill you don't you think I would have done it when you were unconscious and the act would be far easier? Now, tea?"

I was silent for a moment longer before nodding and the man replied with a small nod and even bigger smile before shuffling round to the pot over the fireplace.

_"Nearly the entirety of her memories which is perfectly natural, actually it's quite expected for anything else__** to**__ occur. I've already lost one of the three to this. The only reason I have retained mine is because of constant written reminders and even now my brain still attempts to remove them from time to time. It's quite clear she has no understanding_," he continued to mumble as he set about making the tea, "_Shame. I'm getting the impression that she is a far more powerful position than myself or the others."_

"C-can we go home?" I whispered.

"No, I'm afraid not. Like I said before, short of throwing yourself onto a sword this is home now," he answered.

I expected some misery in the reply but in reality I hadn't really believed there to be any other one. He handed me the tea and I sipped gingerly at the burning hot liquid while he moved to situate himself against the far wall again.

"Ren-san, from the old world do you remember something called Naruto?" he asked carefully.

I blinked, "Naruto, like the story?"

The man's fingers flexed around the cup and there was that glint of interest again but he merely replied with, "uh-huh, Naruto and Team 7 and the Ata-"

"Naruto from the Tale of the Gusty Ninja," I interrupted, "I don't know the other two."

"_I see_."

"Why, is it important?" I asked and felt no shame for the desperation in my voice.

"No, no, don't worry about it," he smiled kindly, "it's a good book, do you enjoy it?"

I smiled despite myself. This venturing into a more mundane topic and pulling free of the confusion was lulling me into safety. I hadn't spoken with another human being like this. Not how humans talk to humans, about books or the weather or work. I…maybe I would be fine after all.

"I can't read it all. Some of the words are too big. I don't really like it that much because I don't think you can believe in stuff like that…around here. But I guess it's nice…to pretend…sometimes," I turned my head away instantly feeling stupid for the omission. The man moved and seated himself at his desk, he pulled out a small carving knife and a block of birch before beginning to whittle away.

"Yes, it is nice to believe in those principles," he smiled kindly, "though I'm surprised that they'd allow a Jinchuriki that sort of reading material."

.

.

.

What?

There was…

He….

No.

The cup slipped from my grasp and rolled harmlessly at the feet I had rushed to plant on the floor as my mind searched desperately for a form of escape. He had a knife. Uncle. Monster, demon. Uncle. He was armed. Uncle, please.

"Calm down Ren-san," the man chuckled, "I mean you no harm."

I froze.

He couldn't mean that.

"Three Tails I presume, I had been wondering where he was since Mizukage-sama didn't show any signs of being a Jinchuriki," he continued, "_then again so much is different in this time line it's preposterous of me to expect that the changes I know about are the only existing ones_."

And he sounded so unaffected, so nonchalant about the news as if he had been expecting it this entire time. Where was the blood rushing from his face? The shaking knees? Those eyes?

"…H-how…" I whispered.

"How did I find out?" he lifted both brows and peered at me over his glasses.

At my numb nod he titled his head back up again and continued to carve, "quite simple really. I didn't until you reacted as you did, it was merely a guess. You expressed a certain desire to be rid of that body in particular, you're too finely dressed for physical weakness to be the issue and wealth would suggest that you have avoided the same horrors the street children of the Bloody Mist endure."

He paused to blow the shavings from his carving before taking his knife to the wood again, "In this universe there are few groups who have all expressed that wish and bar one person Jinchuriki is one of those categories. But as I said it was merely a guess until of course you confirmed it."

I stood there in silence, the only sounds were the crackling of the fire and the slow, measured scrape of blade on wood.

My brain had petered out into nowhere.

Overloaded. Blanked.

Old life. New life.

Too much…there's all too much and still not enough.

**A/N:**

**Thank you for all the reviews and favourites and follows so far ^_^ And what, did you honestly think she would be the only person in the entire world something like this would happen to? As Hitoshi (which is glasses guy btw but Ren doesn't know his name until next chapter) said there are three others he knows of and there were probably more but their brains forced them to forget everything so they can better adapt to this life. Hitoshi however is (or was) a Naruto fan in his previous life and he happens to be a lot older and more intelligent than Ren. Whether he's up to something good or something bad will remain to be seen though :]**

**Thanks for reading :D**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I don't own Naruto only the OCs.**

6

They were waiting for me outside. I had drifted back into sleep again at the sound of Hitoshi's (as I learned was his name) humming. He had asked no more questions, I had drank my tea and then despite the dangers I knew sleeping in that place would bring I found myself doing exactly that.

It didn't matter.

The white sheet that lay over my mind allowed no logical thought as three beings fought behind it. The one Hitoshi had reminded me does or _had_ indeed existed in another world, another life. The one I was trying _so hard_ to quash into oblivion. And finally the one that brought me to dark watered lakes in my sleep and breathed as I breathed from somewhere deep down.

The 'they' in question were the faceless trio that stood watch over almost every single waking moment of my life. They formed a barricade at the end of the narrow street I'd walked from Hitoshi's home to and their lack of presence was all the more unnerving in the perpetual, swirling mist.

"Jinchuriki," one spoke, "you will come with us now."

Jinchuriki.

Yes, that was me.

"Yes, yes," a voice spoke, wait my voice and that was my lips curling into a grin, "I'm getting a spanking, message received."

What was that?

Maybe it was the loose ground Hitoshi had shaken free, the loose ground the three personalities were clawing their way onto. I felt like I could break, I was beginning to break and this address that was my own but was not only wedged the panic in further.

...

The journey made back to the Mizukage's offices was made in silence but that was by no means unusual when my company composed solely of the brick wall equivalent of people. With a sinking feeling of 'no escape' I knew I was in trouble. Trouble was something I had hoped to never offer my uncle. It seemed ridiculous. I had done nothing wrong. I had not disobeyed or betrayed my uncle in any form but still I couldn't shake the dread clinging to my shoulders as we stood outside the door to his office.

One of the three knocked lightly three times, "Mizukage-sama, we have the Jinchuriki."

"Come in," came the reply.

I was jostled inside by grabbing hands and jerking motions, the door promptly sealing shut behind me.

I turned to the impassive face of my uncle, the Fourth Mizukage and felt that I had been thrown to the lions.

"Ren, where were you?" polite and soft as always; deceptive just like his appearance, never trust what you see and hear with Yagura. He will not stand fools and anyone against him is a fool.

"I…" my voice was trembling and I coughed in hopes of dragging it up, "I met some children, I was trying to make friends but they ran away and I got upset."

"Weapons do not have friends and shinobi do not get upset."

That's right; I wasn't a four year old girl. I wasn't even really human, was I?

"Were you trying to leave?"

Yagura's question caught me unbalanced. I opened my mouth to say no but the words curled up and died in my throat. It would be a lie. I had been desperate to escape, not the village but the world as a whole. I could not lie to uncle.

Yagura just continued to watch me, the hard, reflective marbles of deep pink pinning me in place like a butterfly in a glass case.

"Ren, you know what we do with deserters in my village."

I nodded weakly at his low tone, tears brimmed up in my eyes and my throat closed. My hands shook tremulously at my sides. I had never been this terrified in my life. I had never been on the receiving end of my uncle's ire before.

The thought was snapped cleanly away as I felt his fingers curl around my throat and _squeeze _sporadically allowing a few seconds of air before closing off again.

Oh God.

He was going to kill me.

My eyes widened as every single thought in my head was swallowed by the waves of white noise panic. But I couldn't struggle. That was the power my uncle had over me. Even as he squeezed life in and out of my body at a whim I could not lift a hand to fight for what should rightfully be mine. Fear yes but love too. I loved him more than I was capable of loving myself.

A dry, choking cough pushed its way past my lips. Uncle released me and I slid to the floor numbly, staring blankly at the wall and silently gaping in air like a fish.

"Let that be a reminder if you consider repeating this mistake."

That ground before, the empty one that was me. And my uncle. My uncle had just opened the gates.

**Heart thundering, beating its fists against my ribs.**

_I was born on 26th August._

_I couldn't breathe properly. I never could. Everyone was always so scared I would break._

**Eyes, wide open, won't close, can't close.**

_I was born on 26__th__ August._

_I couldn't breathe properly. I never could. Everyone was always so scared…_

**There's something in the dark with me. Dark water, it's cold and it's pushing me up. I think I'm drowning. Too much water.**

_I was born on 26__th__ August._

_I couldn't breathe properly. I never could. Everyone was…_

**I can't move. There's someone on the surface, someone crouched down and watching me as if the film of water on top is a mirror between two worlds. I struggle. I can't move. I'm drowning. You can't fight a sea.**

_I was born on 26__th__ August._

_I couldn't breathe properly. I never could…_

**Pink eyes. They have pink eyes. I know them. I ****_know_********that little girl's face.**

**Too much water.**

**I can't…I can't….**

_I was born on 26__th__ August._

_I couldn't breathe properly…._

**Can't breathe. A sea, an entire sea sucking me in, pulling me under. What's a weak, paper thin thing such as me to an ocean? Too much water. Not enough strength. Always crying. Why am I always crying? This isn't me. This isn't me at all. This is who I've let myself masquerade as. Now there's too much. Pink eyes on me and I ****see**** it now. The smile like the Cheshire cat's crescent moon grin. Why is it so familiar?**

** My smile. It's my smile. And she's….**

_I was born on 26__th__ August._

**I slip from that body and leave it like an empty shell to drift through the dark water.**

**….**

**….**

**….**

**….**

**It's peaceful in the deep.**

**…**

"Hello."

The demon looks through the smoke that billows like silk sheets about him and fixes both crimson eyes on the four year old girl perched cross legged on the rock. Her hair is ash brown; her eyes are pink with two black rings surrounding the pupil, she is sweet faced and small. And yet she grins behind the hand that is holding her face at an angle, elbow planted on one knee.

Isobu says nothing.

Then, "**hello**."

The girl and the demon sit there watching one another then the girl's grin grows.

**A/N:**

**Okay I know I said every other day but I'm holiday next week (Peak District YAY :D) so it's very, very, VERY likely there won't be any updates that week so I'm updating every day until Sunday to make up for it. I hope your enjoying this so far (if you are review please or PM or something just so I know that you find the story interesting/crap).**

**Thanks for reading :3**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I don't own Naruto only the OCs.**

**A/N:**

**Okay just realised thanks to a reviewer that some things in this might be confusing so I thought I'd stick a little synopsis here to cover what's gone on and hopefully answer any questions.**

**-There is more than one character who had previously been born in the real world then has been reborn in the Naruto universe. Hitoshi (the guy with glasses who found Ren passed out after her encounter with the street kids) is one of them and he mentions that he is in contact with three others. **

**-Hitoshi is or was a Naruto fan so he is aware of the plot line and the characters. He states that generally when a person is born in the Naruto universe their brain tries to automatically get rid of the old memories and old identity so they can adapt to their new world easier. Hitoshi was able to hang onto his memories and identity by writing notes to continually retrigger them (bit like Memento which btw is an awesome movie :D) however Ren is slowly losing hers (as mentioned by the nightly purges in her dreams).**

**-In regards to the personality thing because Ren still does retain some of her memories and the moral differences between our world and Naruto's (little kids killing each other would generally be frowned upon for example) she has tried to suppress her personality completely so she can pretend none of this is happening to her. Finding out she's a monster, meeting Hitoshi and discovering there's no way to get out of her situation and THEN the attack from her uncle meant she lost all control she had so her personality (the grinning girl on the lake) came out and subsequently she lost her old identity (being from another world) completely.**

**-The dreams about the lake and the constant internal pressure in her body were the signs of Isobu (three tails) presence.**

**I hope that clears everything up, I think I covered everything. If there's anymore questions just PM me or something :3**

**Well on with the chapter.**

7

"Excellent water manipulation Ren-san. I have come to expect little else from you."

"Yes, yes it's grand, we're grand and the rainbows we crap are grand too," I placed a hand beneath my chin as my features slid into a bored expression, "are you hoping the pungent smell of the asses you've been kissing will put us off eating you? Because that doesn't seem a very sound plan. You don't know a demon's dietary habits. We may be very fond of ass cheek."

The Water Jutsu expert Uncle has hired flounders there for a moment, gaping in a most un-shinobi like manner. I smirk and continue to watch with bored eyes as he frowns at me as if debating whether or not demons really do have a taste for rear ends. This will make the third these past four months.

**'You don't need to be so rude Ren….and Isobu-boku can assure you we don't have those…tastes,' **Isobu's voice as always is almost sheepish despite the tone that's like waves breaking themselves against the cliffs. How a Tailed Beast is capable of appearing shy I will never understand but it does well that one of us is self-conscious at least.

"Ah, don't be so terribly picky Isobu-sama. Besides how do you know we don't like it if we don't try it?" I reply.

The man is registering the flight or fight impulse now. I can see it in his eyes, the way the calf muscles in his leg bunch underneath the thick leg warmers. See the thought pass through his mind as if he'd voiced it, 'she's talking to the demon.'

**'….Isobu-boku is sure.'**

**"**You hear, good news Isobu-sama is quite adamant that…"

He's gone.

I chuckle to myself and fish around the back on the low wall I'd seated myself on for my bag of sweets. Pulling out a thick, twisting strip of liquorice I place it in my mouth and tear away a piece with one hard yank. I smile as I chew.

Life is good.

…

There have been many demons named in the place I was born and I, I'm going to the best one. There is no other option. I refuse to die and the only way to live in Kirigakure besides living in the fear of others is to become the thing others fear. I make no martyr on my part. I'm enjoying it to an extent. Enjoying the way the people whisper about me in alleys as if I'm some mythical beast waiting to drag them into the shadows. Enjoying the way I no longer cling to my uncle's protection. I've made my own. And if I have to be the cautionary tale mothers weave to their children as they tuck them in for bed, so be it. I refuse to live in fear of _them_.

Being in this world is hard. Being a shinobi is harder. But being a Jinchuriki is cruel and if I'm not strong enough that cruelty will take me. And unfortunately for the vast majority of Kirigakure I enjoy my own company far too much to allow that to happen. Oh, they've stopped now. I gave them very little choice. Years of them trying to impose their will and their power on me while I was young in hopes that when I was older the terror would remain and they would have nothing to fear from the poor, shaky Jinchuriki of the Bloody Mist.

I can't honestly say whether or not a bit of kindness on their part would have done them any good; a hand reaching out to cradle me when I lay face down in that slum that night. I've tried to place my faith in humans and found humanity is a very judgemental and unforgiving thing. Now I throw my lot in with demons.

**'Your mind goes to dark places Ren.'**

I laugh to myself and resettle the pole in my grasp. The sound of the bait hitting the water echoes in the home I have hollowed out for myself. Another spoil of a failed rebellion. It used to house a rather large number of street kids; I have long since cleared them out and painted Isobu's eyes above the doorway in warning to anymore creeping mice. The bottom two levels have sunk and it is there where I hang my legs over, watching the bait bob about in the murky water. The place is huge and hollow, twisted structures of coral sprout up out the concrete here and there and murals made with fingers and paint adorn some of the walls.

"Yes, yes and I think about sweets a lot too but you never tell me that my mind goes to confectionary places," I smirk.

It was silent again for a moment bar the sound of the rain beating its tiny feet against the roof and the floors where the ceiling and roof had given way to age and decay. I was humming some idle, cheerful tune as I swung my legs back and forth over the gap, fishing rod in hand and liquorice lace dangling from the corner of my mouth.

'**Ren…it's not fishing when you put the fish on the end of the hook then put the line in the water**,' Isobu spoke up.

"It's not?" I pulled the line from the water and blinked owlishly at the glass-eyed fish skewered on the hook.

'**…No…'**

"What do we do then?"

**'Isobu-boku thinks the humans….just wait for the fish.'**

I snorted, "That sounds dull. Why ever would they do something as pointless and time consuming as that? It doesn't seem very effective either. We've already caught twenty fish in the past half hour."

**'Ren…you stole those fish.'**

"Yes and see how much better a fisherman we make," I smirked triumphantly as I flapped an arm at the wicker basket overflowing with fish.

Really, it should be made illegal for someone to possess an ego the size of my own. Ridiculous that it should develop at all considering I wasn't even deemed human by everyone bar Uncle but then again it was precisely that notion from which the high regard I had for myself stemmed. Humans were disgusting, really. And I wasn't human. I was better than that shop owner with half his hairy backside hanging out of his trousers or the ratty, lice infested children with their pot bellies ballooning out under the tracks of skinny ribs.

I was a demon and even I knew humans paled when the ground shook beneath our feet (I also happened to be an excellent fisherman). So there was nothing to fear anymore, no one to fear anymore (bar my Uncle but his human status was as questionable as my own). Humanity seemed such a very small price to pay for enormous confidence in my survival especially if the rest of the human race wasn't too fond of me either. There was still niggling presence of guilt, of loneliness but these were so constant now that I rarely registered them anymore.

And when I did, when I felt like I was out there stumbling through the crowd of faceless shadows in the mist, it was dispelled easy enough with one mantra. I had Isobu and I didn't need anyone else. Whether this was a lie or a truth I had no idea and was none too willing to investigate either lest it shake the foundation I had built for myself. It seemed likely enough though.

Over the years (ten now I think, yes I'd be ten in three months) Isobu and I had twinned and merged together so much so that I had even developed the habit of referring to myself as we. There were the two individuals but these two were fused in a single body and as such Isobu was almost like a conjoined twin in the sense that our fate and actions was_ ours;_ not mine, not his**, ours**. The inmate and the prisoner guard reaching out to each other through the cell bars.

Maybe there was an ounce of pity in my grandmother's eyes when she saw that the ten year old child of her dead daughter had only one friend and it was the demon that had been planted inside her while she was still in the womb but it was never enough to make her approach me with anything but wary distaste. An attitude that was perfectly fine by me because the old woman stank to high heaven of her own piss and dried sweat. Honestly for a climate where it rains eight out of ten days I couldn't understand why no one had just put the Mizukage's mother in a cardboard box outside and let the downpour do its work or hosed her down at least. Maybe I could hit her with a Water Jutsu and campaign to Uncle that it was for the good of the village, it wasn't like he was particularly attached to the woman anyway.

**'Isobu-boku thinks its best we don't attack your grandmother,' **Isobu's voice that always sounded as if it were climbing up from the bottom of the sea spoke in my head.

"It would only be a little attack Isobu-sama, just to get the stink off," I defended.

**'Isobu-boku can see your thoughts…it was not a little attack.'**

"I'm sure a ninety year old woman can survive a measly Raging Waves Jutsu," I smiled and nodded my head, pleased with my own claim.

**'Not if you plan to hit her from a cliff with it, Ren.'**

"Then technically the fall would kill her, not me. _And_ she would smell ten times better in those few seconds of free fall before she makes a rather messy hello with the floor again. So in those circumstances I would add 'cheesy stink vanquisher' underneath 'champion fisherman' on the long, long list of accomplishments," I smirked and jabbed a finger at nowhere in particular (since Isobu resided inside me) while the other hand continued supplying my mouth with liquorice sweets.

**'….We are not pushing your grandmother from a cliff.'**

It was quiet for a moment again.

"…Not even a_ teeny tiny_ one?"

**'No.'**

I sighed and shrugged. What could you do? Before the smile lifted my face again and I continued to hum listening to the rain and my voice bouncing off empty walls.

…

Routine.

Everyone falls into routine. Whether it be the routine of wake, work, sleep, wake, work, sleep or of inconsistent running, it's still a routine. Maybe it's interrupted here and there by aberrations but then you adapt and this new aberration is forgotten or integrated as you file into routine again.

My existence was not an exception. I spent the vast majority of my time training. I was fully anticipating this sizeable chunk of my valuable time to become a droll task by now but the opposite was true. I loved it. Or more specifically the steady thrum of progress that came with it. I was the one pushing my Uncle for more trainers, better equipment and more time (all done tactically of course I was enthusiast not suicidal).

There was the act itself, training meant improvement and further merging of Isobu's presence with my own. Then there was the fighting and I am not at all ashamed to admit I enjoy fighting or more specifically the winning that usually came with it. It was exhilarating proving yourself worthy by gripping onto a knife edge of actions and thoughts. Then finally in a more overgrown and neglected portion of my consciousness there was an ideal of freedom. It was a stupid, childish belief that if I somehow managed to reach that invisible point I would become so strong that I would **truly** stop caring about those damn eyes.

Those hours I had to myself were consumed with keeping my reign over my hollow kingdom (or the abandoned apartment complex as it was more commonly named). Keeping the street kids out, running through empty dilapidated rooms, swimming in the sunken levels; anything I fancied, anything at all. Because that place was mine. I had fought for it and proven I was the strongest.

Uncle seemed pleased by my miniature conquest. A reaction I only gauged by the sizeable hoard of sweets I found in my room the next morning. I had not expected any feeling from him on my activities at all but my acquisition of the abandoned spire and the thin streets surrounding it had undeniably satisfied him in some way. Maybe it to him represented what he considered an appropriate attitude for me to have. Maybe it was the ruthless way I had driven out the past occupants._ I_ certainly didn't know and with Yagura it was impossible to accurately guess.

My days generally ended with a meal in the Mizukage's offices, consistently attended by my grandmother and father and infrequently attended by my uncle. My presence at these meals solely hinged on whether Yagura was there or not and if the latter was the case I would occupy ten minutes with irritating my blood relatives (with varying levels of amusement on my part and many _many_ whispered curses after I'd left the room on theirs, twenty-five was my current and undeniably impressive record) before retiring to my room.

My uncle's company was the only one I actively sought and truthfully he was the only person I had separated from my rather unfavourable opinion on the rest of the human race. There were times when I was granted permission into his office and I would just sit there and watch him work, watch him. Over the last few years he hadn't visited my room and his behaviour had been somewhat different but that was not important. He was. He was so very, very important because he was the only thread I held with a human being. He showed no signs of reciprocation, no sign of affection really but I think I would have been more disturbed if he were to hug me than order my death.

The aberrations to this schedule were the assassination attempts. Not aimed at me directly but rather my uncle and I as _his_ weapon had become tied to these efforts. They really should have put the fear back in me but alas each one failed and each failed one proved that I was better.

It was the aforementioned dinner that had me currently strolling through the near bare streets of Kirigakure. The Mizukage's offices were by no means difficult to find even to someone who had not travelled its path the countless times I had. The sheer scope of the circular building allowed it visibility at all times, looming over the other structures of the Bloody Mist like a malevolent titan.

I hummed around the liquorice lace as I made my way through the streets, slipping in and out of visibly using the Hidden Mist Jutsu as I pleased and sometimes so I could hear the squeaks of surprise from passers as I materialised beside them. I grinned largely and wiggled my fingers in a wave at a group of three children peeking up from a window and all three heads ducked back into their home immediately. I laughed to myself as I continued on.

Yes, I had nothing to fear in Kirigakure anymore.

….

"The rebuilding of the southwest district appears to be going well, Mizukage-sama."

"Yes, thank you," uncle replied, "it will be completed within the next few days."

"Very efficient Mizukage-sama."

I watched as my father finished his speech with a deep nod and took up his chopsticks again just as I launched another grain of rice at him. It stuck itself to his forehead and I watched with a bizarre sense of fascination as the rice stubbornly refused to move and the muscle beneath my father's left eye began to tick.

My father was a handsome but vacant and boring man. It was quite disappointing to believe that my deceased mother would favour looks over merit when choosing a partner. He was slim and sleek with an elegant face; pale skin, long dark hair and dark blue eyes. Yes all fine to simply sit there and stare at the man (if man staring was a pastime you were partial to) but an actual conversation with him was the most boring and bland affair I have ever had the misfortune to witness. He kept his distance from me and I found his struggling for patience amusing for a short while until it became like everything else the man did, dreary.

It was quiet a moment save for the sound of four people eating and occasional tap of me flicking another grain of rice at my father's beautiful face.

I'd gained neither temperament nor looks from my father. My face was slightly thinner and longer thanks to his genetics (and time would tell whether or not I would be tall like him or child sized like my mother and uncle) but there was nothing else he could vouch for. Physically I took very much after uncle. Ash brown hair, ever so slightly tanned skin tone and shockingly pink eyes. My features (unlike my father's long, sweeping lines) were the same sweet, plump little ones my mother wore on the few photographs I'd seen of her; the type of features that had I not been very clearly labelled as a 'future death dealing weapon of the Bloody Mist' would have had little old ladies squishing my cheeks and cooing over how cute I was. Of course they were thrown off slightly by the almost ever present smirk curling up one side of my lips but the expression was unconscious and it took actual effort to remove it.

Then there were the parts of my appearance so obviously influenced by Isobu. I had been told that if a Tailed Beast is sealed while the host is still in the womb there are usually physical effects of the sealing. Mine came in the form of my tougher than usual skin and the presence of not only pupils in my dark pink eyes but the two black rings evenly spaced out from each other around those pupils. My fringe (exactly like my uncle's) had the shorter stubborn strands of fringe sticking up over my right eye while the fringe over my left had obeyed orders and fell down to brush over my left eye. The rest of my hair had been sectioned into three low ponytails in my attempt to mimic Isobu's three tails. Two hung in front of each shoulder while the third hung down the centre of my back. My hair was quite long (considering my shinobi status) and ended just above my first ribs.

Around my neck I wore the skeletal jaw of a turtle on a thin chain. It was a tiny marvel that I had been fascinated by at the time of its discovery. Although I had rid the childish notion of looking like Isobu that the six year old me had insisted upon finding it I still couldn't bring myself to discard of the novelty. I wore the same baggy combination of apron and shinobi trousers as my uncle expect instead of forest green I had favoured a dark tan. These were tucked into the thick, corrugated material Kirigakure Nin preferred around my ankles and these in turn were attached to my shinobi sandals. Underneath the pants I wore a tight fitted, thin, waterproof material in black that allowed greater movement and breathed the sweat out. Over this was a thick Cargo jacket in camouflage tones of blues and grey. It ended just below my breasts (or lack thereof considering I was ten) and the sleeves just reached the elbows before the black spandex-like material underneath merged with my plated fingerless gloves.

As for personality well I don't know who should be blamed for that aspect. I was unashamedly a narcissistic being who gained an unhealthy amount of pleasure from pissing off everyone and anyone who took my fancy and was on all accounts infuriatingly flippant on most subjects. It should have been telling from the smirk, the unaffected lax to my body. It was to me all so very funny.

Speaking of which I had just managed to align multiple pieces perfectly along his bottom lip to form an odd, edible moustache (a feat I was rather proud of if I do say so myself) when I was interrupted by my uncle's voice.

"Ren, what did you do with your day?" Yagura asked.

"Today?" I tilted my mouth to the side and hummed before answering, "We were training this morning with the water style expert but he had the most insane motion that we were going to eat him and ran off. So this afternoon we went fishing."

"Did the specialist say whether or not he would be returning to train you tomorrow?" Yagura continued, completely unfazed by the news. Well, it wasn't exactly a new situation.

"We're afraid not," I shook my head solemnly.

"I understand. There will be another Jounin to teach you tomorrow."

"Thank you Oji-sama."

"Though I will request that you put an effort into not scaring this one away immediately," Yagura said.

I opened my mouth with mock horror as if I had just been greatly offended (though in truth I was more than a little proud of my tally), "We did nothing of the sort. Oji-sama I can't believe you would suggest something so nefarious. We will admit telling the previous instructor that we slowly absorb a person's life force through making eye contact _may_ have been a social blunder on our part but this time we were quite careful to assure this man we weren't going to eat him."

"So it would seem," Yagura replied drily and I couldn't stop the smirk curling my lips.

It was quiet again for a few moments until-

"Grandmother would you like to go mountain hiking with me tomorrow?" I asked with such an innocent expression it made a puppy dog look like chain smoking sadists with six o'clock shadow.

'**Ren**,' Isobu practically sighed.

**A/N:**

**Phew -.- I think that's the longest chapter in this so far which isn't saying much XD I'd be really interested to know about your opinions on the change in Ren (good or bad?) so if you have time drop a review :3**

**Thanks for reading**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I don't own Naruto only the OCs.**

**Warning: Bad language, messed up kids, the usual.**

8

"Isobu-sama, can you remember when Oji-sama said this new teacher would be arriving?"

'**In five minutes now…Ren, you shouldn't be impatient.'**

I shrugged at that as I popped another small ball of toffee (today's favourite confectionary) into my mouth and kept the restless flitting of my eyes out on the mist filled training ground. It was little more than a circular space of that thin, weed-like grass really and ringed by the low concrete wall I was currently perched on. Uncle had been sure to create the training space hugging the back of the Mizukage's offices and the expanse of mostly dead grass was constantly thrown under the shadow of the building.

"Yes, yes but this mystery teacher better be dressed to the nines if he's decided not to come early," I continued, "I want elaborate drag at least and sparkles, lots of sparkles."

'…Isobu-boku is confused. What are these sparkles?'

"Remember that woman who visited from the Land of Lighting and the air was all shimmery and sparkly every time she giggled. Like that. I think it might be some mild form of Genjutsu but," I closed my eyes and shrugged both shoulders, "who knows?"

"May I ask who exactly are you talking to?"

I paused and blinked up at the man, having to crane my head back slightly from where I crouched on the wall.

"Are you the new teacher?"

The man re-righted his glasses in one clean movement before answering, "Yes, yes I am and am I to take it you are Ren-san?"  
"Yep," I grinned wickedly up at him.

"You've changed considerably."

"I wish I could say the same but I have no idea who you are."

Something passed across the young man's face so suddenly and so swiftly that had I blinked I would have missed the slight twitch of muscle's that signified its presence had existed at all.

"Hashimoto Hitoshi, a pleasure I'm sure."

…..

I can guarantee you, my new '_sense_i's' company was not a pleasure. Neither was it an 'of course' because that would make no sense.

The very pressing and dare I say it, _irritating_ (no not possible I did not get irritated just lost interest) issue was the man seemed difficult to unstick. This reversal of roles was not funny. Not funny at all. It had got to the stage when I had shaved him completely bald (eyebrows included) and drew various circular objects (which just happened to be impolite through no fault of my own, evidently circular objects hated the man as much as I did) on his shiny head.

I had forced the man to suffer an extreme case of the shits when he was addressing the entirety of the Academy Students _while_ he was delivering a speech on how to fight off the seductive methods of a kunoichi for crying out loud. And he'd not _even_ the decency a blink, not even when some kid muttered into the now disbelieving silence 'yeah, that'll do it.' After every attack he'd just smile that feeble, faux kind smile of his and say 'terribly sorry Ren-sama.'

He most certainly was not.

If he was repentant in any way, shape or form he would have staged a very dramatic and very embarrassing public suicide by now (hopefully involving some form of unrequited and socially frowned upon love with one of those little wooden figures he was always carving) or at the very least stopped hounding me. He didn't exactly follow me around, he just refused to quit his position an action I would have found bearable had it not been for his placid, flat personality.

Maybe that wasn't that it at all. My father was practically a cardboard cut-out and his existence had never irked me as such as Hashimoto Hitoshi's did. Maybe it was the way Hitoshi spoke, like a doctor clinically inquiring about a patient. Maybe it was the way he would ask about Isobu. Maybe it was the way he was one of the only humans who was looking at me like I was human too but to Hitoshi humans were tools to be used.

He could see me but that hardly mattered when the emotion behind that sight filed me into the same category as his little wooden chess pieces.

I did not like this Hashimoto Hitoshi.

At all.

…

'**Ren...you were having nightmares again**.'

"Thank you for that snippet of information Isobu-sama it had completely passed my notice," I laughed shakily as my clammy hand was pressed against my face.

As if I could push it all back in and stop it from ever coming out.

The dream still clung against my skin like something worming its way through my flesh and I shivered with the revulsion of it all, the sickly, thick feel of it still lodged in my system. I pull the thick, quilted blankets from my body suddenly so hot and sweaty that I can't even bear to look at them. I'm a shinobi, killing should be easy but its been a month since Uncle used me against those rebels and still...I can still feel them on me. I place my bare feet against the cool stone of the floor and there, finally, is a moment of stability. Deep breath. In. Out. I'm shaking. That isn't good enough anywhere good enough. I'm Ren, the Jinchuriki of the Bloody Mist for fuck's sake this isn't good enough. Killing should be easy. I'm a demon and a weapon its the only reason I was born. I can't accept that I'm faulted. This is momentary. There's no way I can be affected by this.

Padding across the room I slip myself inside the private bathroom and run the water until it's so cold it almost burns. My quarters are far larger now and no longer haunted by the presence of the three shadows. No one enters them but myself. I fill my hands with the freezing water then without hesitation drive it into my face.

It helps. The shock of the abrupt cold impact drives away the oily vestiges of the nightmare that still coat my body like a wet sheet. That's better, much better. See, you're fine. I grin back at my reflection.

Perfectly fine.

…..

"Have you ever debated speaking with anyone other than the tailed beast and Mizukage-sama?"

"Huh?" I looked up from where I was rooting around in my bag of sweets for one of those little red hard boiled ones. Why did they stuff these bags with far too many of the yellow squishy ones I detest? I was barely paying attention to the bespectacled man, he'd filled his purpose for the day now he was hardly worth my attention. Despite the disgust (and bile) that rose up every time I saw the weasel faced Jounin he was a surprisingly competent shinobi.

Oddly enough he specialised in Medical Jutsu which in and of itself was rather unheard of in Kirigakure but Hitoshi's Medical skills widely differed from the traditionally supportive units. Hitoshi had a rather disturbing penchant for neutralising his foes using various poisons before performing some questionable...surgery on them (and if it was morally questionable in Kirigakure as you can imagine it would be considered pretty fucking sick everywhere else). Those scalpels he wielded like Kunai were always kept pristine though, no matter the pints of blood that must coat them on a regular basis.

Hitoshi's skills didn't end at picking people apart physically but there was some systematic gleam to the way he looked at someone that suggested he had already picked them apart mentally as well. While I absolutely hated this part of him (and every part really from his great shining head to his freakishly large feet) it meant he was admittedly rather good at creating training programs that were actually challenging.

Thank God.

"I do not mean to interrupt you-"

"Then by all means," I frowned as my head wriggled further into the brown paper bag like a fox in a bin bag, "don't."

"Though I have a question that has been...persistent. If I may ask why is it that you interact with only your tailed beast," Hitoshi continued regardless of my earlier suggestion.

"And why exactly would we design to answer a question from a bald worm such as yourself," I replied nonchalantly while finally finding one of those little pink sweets and merrily popping it into my mouth.

"You have no duty to," Hitoshi's feeble fake smile made an appearance, "it was merely a curiosity. And if I may be so bold it is yourself who continues to forcibly shave my head, if the style disquiets you then there are other hairstyles I could adopt."

I paused and squinted up at him from where I continued to crouch on the low wall. He was still perspiring lightly while I had already recovered the energy exhausted from the intense training rota I set myself. Jeez humans were so weak it was almost laughable.

**'Isobu-boku is also interested Ren**.'

"You are?" I hummed, "well, why in the world would we pursue conversation with anyone else when we have our own dazzlingly company."

Hitoshi was staring at me and my expression instantly soured for a millisecond. He had no right partaking in this. Retrieving another sweet from my bag I took one long lick before slamming it onto the top of huge, shiny bald head. The little yellow glob stood to attention like a bizarre beacon. I smirked feeling far more satisfied and slunk from the wall to my feet.

I was already exiting the training yard when Hitoshi uttered a single sentence that made me pause.

"That sounds awfully lonely."

I smirked to myself and continued on as if I hadn't heard anything at all.

...

Maybe now would be a good time for confessions.

Some nights I crept along the rooftops and watch from windows as mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters tuck each other into bed.

I cling to their window frames and try to will their existences into my own. What would be like to return from those missions with blood still coating my skin and have someone wash it away?

I'm stronger and better than them, they shouldn't matter.

But maybe sometimes it's better to be weak and warm than strong and alone.

**A/N:**

**Thank you for all the reviews ^_^ I'm glad but a bit surprised that people seem to like Ren's personality since when I was trying to come up with it I just basically kept thinking of those arrogant, rich kids who are really isolated from answer some questions, Ren is Naruto's age and yes at this point Yagura is being controlled by Obito. **

**Thanks for reading.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I don't own Naruto only the OCs.**

9

"You will be attending the Chunin Exams in three weeks' time. The Exams are to be held in Konohagakure and you will be accompanied by two other shinobi of my choosing and your current sensei."

I pause in my current preoccupation of popping candied ball after candied ball into my awaiting mouth and flick my eyes briefly across at my uncle. Yagura says nothing to his thirteen year old niece just continues to read through the mounds of paperwork.

Exams?

I snort.

I don't need to be tested. But…my hand pauses, this may mean travel. Despite (or more likely because of) my status I haven't set so much as my little toe outside of the Land of Water. Though my expectations (which consist of these foreign shinobi giggling girlishly and flicking leaves at me) greatly differ from the reality I can't help but feel a pull of excitement. There's a pang of insult that they are going to put _me_ through exams.

Then a decidedly feral grin pulls at my face.

Different country. Different shinobi. Different opportunities to prove I am the best through different challenges.

Oh, so many asses are going to get pasted.

"Thank you Oji-sama."

….

"Dear, dear teacher with your wise and huge, shining head-"

"Can I ask what it is you want Ren-san," Hitoshi gives me that watered down, kind smile as he continues to test the sharp edges of kunai, "and my head happens to be shiny because you insist on shaving it."

"You are our human notepad," I reply unapologetically, "and we like to bald-slap you when the mood strikes us."

"I am honoured," Hitoshi replies with that false sincerity that I find sickening.

"These exams," I squat down further on the wall and pull out another candied ball, "why now? We don't think Oji-sama has ever intended for us to be measured by the same standards as human shinobi."

"An astute observation Ren-san, well done."

I smirk and chuckle to myself, "hardly. We're well aware of what we."

Hitoshi pauses in his ministrations and adjusts his glasses while muttering in that strange language of his.

"According to sources this year two other Jinchuriki will be taking the Exam," he replies finally and my hand pauses from where it hung to plop another sweet into my mouth.

"Other Jinchuriki?"

Hitoshi glances at me and I see that clinical curiosity pass over once before his face is the ever pleasant fool again.

"Yes though your uncle is only aware of the presence of one."

"There…there are others…like me?"

"Yes, you did not know?"

I grit my teeth, "no, no we didn't."

…

"Why didn't you tell me?"

**'Isobu-boku did not know you wanted to know.**'

"Of course I would!"

I deflate and my body slumps to the floor.

"Of course I wanted to know," I whisper.

There are others. Other Jinchuriki.

The revelation hits me with all the force of a sledgehammer and I can barely slink around it. There...there are others like me. I try to forcibly sink this information in but still it resists. My uncle controls all the information that I receive, he controls what I learns, what I do, what I think. Never before has this bothered me. I had no interest in others why would I seek to know them? But now my fists are shaking and something hot and heady is bubbling up under the surface of my skin.

Because this isn't the _others _this is me, beings like me and I'M THE MOST IMPORTANT DAMN THING HERE! I should know! Why hadn't I known?

**'Ren...please calm down...your hands are bleeding.'**

Snapping my eyes down I register rather dumbly through the thick, knotting thing inside my veins that they are bleeding as they clasp around the jagged edges of another coral formation I've summoned.

"DAMN IT!" I roar, kicking at the thing instead and feeling satisfaction as it splinters and falls apart under my assault.

But still I'm not satisfied.

I turn on the wall now, pounding it mercilessly under my feet.

**'Ren! Stop!' **Isobu sounds worried but the concern falls away under the pulsing haze I'm under now, **'You're hurting yourself!'**

That doesn't matter. Why hadn't I known? How long had they all let me wander around this damp, cold, empty place thinking I'm the only one? I hate them! They deny me their own company then deny me the company of others like me! For what? Do they like this? Do they get off to treating me like this? Don't they know I'm stronger? By rights I should be better! Why do I always have to be alone?! I hate them! I hate them! I HATE THEM! EVERY LAST ONE! DISGUSTING, CRUEL, WEAK THINGS!

'**Ren! Calm down now! You'll be seeing the other Jinchuriki won't you? That bald human said so...so calm down...please.'**

My foot makes one last juddering impact with the wall and I slump with it. Resting my head against the cool down, still damp from the fog and yesterday's rain. My fingers are clawed in-between the scars in the concrete, they tighten then lax as I release one ragged breath.

Isobu's right.

I will be seeing them. Something small and flickering putters to life in my ribcage and it takes me awhile to recognise it as hope.

I snort.

No, that's impossible. I don't need anyone else, I'm so fantastically fantastic that I don't need anyone. No, its merely curiosity. Who wouldn't be curious about something like this? I want to meet them, see if their like me in any way, shape or form and then I'm going to beat them, prove that I AM the best! Yes, that sounds suitable. I nod once, a smirk growing at the new found conviction.

Straightening myself up, I dust my clothes down and wince at the sharp throbbing of my hands and feet. I'm Ren.

I am the best.

And I'm going to prove it.

**'Ren...why does Isobu-boku get the feeling you're planning something...nasty?'**

"Isobu-sama how could you think such things," I mock pout and shake my head in disappointment, "I'm practically an angel."

**'...Are you planning something?'**

I smirk, "yep."

**A/N:**

**Thank you all for the lovely reviews and favourites and follows ^_^ it honestly makes my day when I see this has gotten a new review. Sorry this chapter is later than usual but I've been having trouble trying to FF net to load :/ Next chapter will mark the beginning of the Chunin Arc and Ren's arrival in Konoha. I'll likely upload that one later today since this chapter is so SHORT D: but I wanted to start the Chunin Arc of on a completely new chapter. I hope this chapter gives an idea of how much control Yagura has over Ren and how sheltered she really is (I mean she's NEVER been out of Kirikagure and she wasn't even aware that there were other Jinchuriki). **

**Thanks for reading**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: I don't own Naruto.**

**Warning: Language, mentions of murder...Gaara.**

Hello: Japanese

_Helllo:_ English

10

"It's far too sunny."

And that is my first and overwhelming impression of Konohagakure. And it is. Greens and golds, earthy and rich. I come from a world of sombre blues and smoke. The Chunin at the huge gates is ushering us forward and flicking through paperwork ignoring the morbid curiosity I lace over him.

As soon as the gates open up and devour myself and the three travelling with me I almost physically stagger from the noise. There's movement and voices everywhere. Kirigakure is almost constantly silent like the abused child tiptoeing around eggshells while her alcoholic parents sleep it off. But this place…is so full and alive. I'm not entirely sure if I like it. How could somewhere so colour welcome me and vice versa. Not that I'm the classic misery riddled and vengeful Kiri nin but still I feel like an outsider.

"Well then," Hitoshi readjusts his glasses in one quick movement, "I need to see some people. You have an hour before we convene back at the establishment I'll seek you out then."

Hitoshi turns to me with one of his sickly, faux smiles, "try not to get into trouble."

"Us? Trouble? We chafe at the very notion my dear man," I reply with a smirk.

Hitoshi disappears promptly and the other two join him now they no longer have to be in my company. The two Uncle has assigned are so startling nondescript that it's easy to pass over their presence. They wear the traditional Kiri shinobi uniform with the grey guard over each chest. They're far older than me, closer to eighteen than my thirteen years, and the vacant empty quality to their eyes is almost unnerving. Both cover their faces with black masks and cover their hair with their Kiri headbands so its almost impossible to distinguish physical features. In short, they're just as dull as Hitoshi.

I wait until they've gone before smirking and uncurling my fist around the crumpled piece of paper nestled in my palm. It only has two names.

'Uzamaki Naruto.

Gaara of the Sand.'

Carefully I slip it back into my jacket before fishing a liquorice lace out. Gnawing on the end I make my way through the snaking streets, humming with a slight skip in my step.

Time to meet the family.

…..

Hitoshi still feels the urge to check on Ren after dealing with the needed procedures. But he hasn't the time. The most pressing matter is bearing down on him and if he wasn't who he is a normal level of urgency sparking through his fingers. The centre that the Hokage has procured for the traveling parties isn't safe enough, too many ears and too many eyes, so Hitoshi makes his way towards the rundown districts in a premeditated amble.

He looks aimless.

He acts aimless.

But Hitoshi is anything but.

Aito is waiting outside, arms folded across his broad chest and the Ame headband resting against the tanned skin of his thick, bull like neck. The dark trunk-like limbs make an almost comical comparison to the stick-like arms and deathly pale skin of Hitoshi.

Aito bows his head in acknowledgement and Hitoshi replies with that watered down faux smile of his.

"Akira is inside I presume?" Hitoshi re-rights his glasses with that quick flicking movement of his.

"He is," Aito's voice rumbles up from somewhere deep inside his chest and barrels out his mouth like thunder.

"Then we'd best not keep him waiting," Hitoshi gestures for Aito to take the lead and both bodies enter the unassuming single story home.

Akira glances up, withered hands still curled around the wicker cane, and shuffles ever so slightly in the huge cushioned hair he's sunk his old bones in.

"_Good day," _Hitoshi begins, switching to English immediately now all three contacts are huddled inside the tiny house, "_You're looking well."_

"_I wish I could say the same Alex," _Akira fixes him with a stink eye that is almost entirely swallowed by the overlapping wrinkles that coat his face.

"_Yeah, you look like crap_,"Aito grunts.

"Well,"Hitoshi takes his glasses and meticulously cleans them with a cloth completely unaffected by their blunt comments, "_We'd best get down to-"_

Hitoshi lifts his head from his ministrations and finds the other two occupants of the room gawking at him. Hitoshi sighs deeply before addressing the incredulous stares.

"_What is it_?"Hitoshi asks irritably.

"_What happened to-"_Akira gestures towards his liver spotted head and the long, wispy eyebrows perched on folds of wrinkles.

"_Where the fuck are your eyebrows and why the fuck are you bald_?"Aito supplies instead staring at Hitoshi with a level of suspicion that really doesn't befit the situation.

"_And why is there-" _Akira's hands smooth over the baggy ball of his skin that is his head.

"_Why the fuck is there a yellow sweet stuck to your head?" _Aito grunts.

"_I see you two are as eloquent as ever," _Hitsohi mumbles under-breath before readdresses them with his pasty smile, "_It has been some years since our last meeting there is much to discuss. My current...appearance plays some part in the new circumstances I've managed to fit myself into."_

"_So you managed it then_?"Akira nods sagely, "_The Jinchuriki is now under your tutelage?"_

"_She is_,"Hitsohi replies, "_Though unfortunately I have little to no sway over her. She remains very much the property of the Mizukage. She's also completely forsaken her memories. It's unfortunate that the only one of us to born into this world with such a huge degree of power has no real notion of what she could do with it."_

"_Regarding the Mizukage have you made any more progress with the rebellion_?"Akira questions.

"_I have. I've managed to amass quite a few followers in that respect and I am certain that at least the majority of Kiri Nin are questioning whether or not the Mizukage's actions are his own," _Hitoshi answers.

"_And you, Aito, have there been any developments in Amegakure_?"Akira redirects his attention to the stocky middle-aged man with his arms still folded across his chest.

"_Unchanging from what I can gather. It seems they are still recruiting, there haven't been any moves towards the Jinchuriki yet_,"Aito replies.

Akira nods slowly and Hitoshi takes this moment of quiet to turn to the other younger man (though compared to the now silent ancient man anyone would seem younger).

"_My future condolences for your team_,"Hitsohi smiles.

Aito rounds his shoulders away and his mouth disappears into the high lapels of his thick coat, "_They're good kids, they don't deserve...to go like they do."_

"_Consider it a small mercy then that Gaara finds them instead of Ren_,"Hitoshi continues.

Aito's thick brows furrow over and meet at the top of his broad nose.

"_Is she as bad as him then_?"Aito mumbles only hearing rumours carried on the backs of travellers about the child demon in the bloody mist.

"_Hrmm, difficult to say. She is far more unlikely to initiate a fight. Even though she seems to have an unhealthy appetite for proving herself through conquest generally Ren will not pursue needless combat_,"Hitoshi shrugs, "_However when the fancy does arise...at least Gaara is quick."_

Aito makes no other moves to speak.

"_So what is it that we intend to do about Sasuke?" _Hitoshi finally voices, "_And the Jinchuriki, am I to presume that we will still be following our previous intentions?"_

Silence.

"_Hey, old fart, we're talking to you," _Aito frowns.

Hitoshi makes his way over to Akira and the battered, old chair he's hunched into. He bends down ever-so-slightly to place his ear over Akira's mouth then sighs deeply.

"_He's asleep again,"_Hitoshi mutters then turns to address Aito.

"_We may as well-ah_!"

"_**You coffin-dodging bastard get your wrinkly ass up!"**_Aito roars barrelling towards the old man and shaking him at such a speed that it takes a moment for his wrinkles to fid the rest of his skin.

Hitoshi merely sighs heavily and massages the growing headache between his eyes while Akira squeals girshly (which is more than a little disturbing since the man numbers around ninety) and Aito flings every curse known to man in the background.

...

"What are you bastards doing in my village?"

The question throws me ever so slightly. I pause, liquorice lace still hanging from the corner of my mouth, and spin on my heels peering down one of the many pokey little alleyways that cover this place. It is the plural that makes me halt. So far I've already encountered many of Konohagakure's inhabitants (shinobi and civilian alike) and they've all thrown suspicious and curious glances at the three wavy lines of my headband but so far no one has openly questioned my presence (it is the Chunin Exams after all). The plural makes me wonder whether this questioner is aware of Isobu's presence.

My face draws long as I peep around the corner. The alleyway is not entirely empty. A small cluster of little bodies make stage in the centre, three much young, two around my age and another two who appear to be my seniors though not by much.

"What's this?" I murmur curiously.

'**Ren…Isobu-boku thought you were looking for the others?'**

"We are but this looks like the beginnings of a catfight," I smirk, "We should make a mature interception so there's no trouble on safe, civilian streets."

**'….You're going to antagonise them aren't you.'**

"Why, pray tell, wasn't that a question?" I whisper, already sneaking my way towards the group. Isobu doesn't respond and I have to muffle a snicker.

They make an odd group though I only spare them a cursory glance (check for weapons, movement, indications of their next action). All are leaf besides the one in the weird cat get-up and the older girl who if the hourglass shape carved into the metal of their headbands is any indication hail from Suna.

Creeping nearer I notice the presence of another boy. This one two looks about my age. He leans against the bark of the tree (there's damn trees everywhere here) and the arrogant smirk that pulls at his lips instantly fosters dislike.

"Sasuke-kun!" the pink haired girl squeals so loudly that I almost jump.

"What the hell was that," I whisper, raising an eyebrow, "some kind of verbal twitch."

The blonde boy beside her is staring at the scene as if he's suffered a sudden case of constipation while the other two are staring up in equal amounts of wonder and displeasure at the boy hidden among the leaves. The little boy who I can only presume was being thrown about by the Suna Nin is scrambling over to his two weepy companions.

Make-up Cat guy is rubbing at his wrist as his hand spasms, "Ah...another guy who pisses me off."

"Get lost!" comes the curt reply from tree guy and I have to suffocate the snicker that rises up. This is the most pathetic pissing contest I've ever seen.

"KYAA! SO COOL! GET HIM SASUKE-KUN!"

Holy shit! What's wrong with her? I stare at the pink haired girl who's squirming about on the spot like some demented worm and seriously begin to consider whether or not she's suffering from some rare form of retardation. And that's a lot, coming from me because...well, I doubt I'd be wining any sanity prizes as it is.

"Hey punk get down here!" it's kitty boy again. He's obviously itching from a damaged ego and the boy in the tree seems to be gaining some smug satisfaction from the twitching fingers of Kitty's hand.

"I hate show-offs like you the most," Kitty continues, reaching behind his back for a wrapped object with an odd tuft of dark hair popping definitely from the top. I lean further forward from the shadows I've concealed myself in. What is that? A smirk crawls across my lips. It looks interesting...unless of course it's where Kitty keeps his emergency supply of wigs. I doubt it however when his fellow Suna Nin steps forward in alarm.

"Hey!" she barks, "you're even going to use Karasu?"

A Karasu? The smirk grows. That sounds impressive.

'**Isobu-boku thinks you should leave...find the others.'**

"One second Isobu-sama," I lean even closer, "this looks like it's about to get interesting."

"Kankuro stop."

And with that command my fun dies too.

Kunkuro (who I can only presume is Kitty) and the blonde Suna Nin beside him freeze and I see the look of fearful submission pass over their eyes. The air suddenly pulls taunt in the chests of the players this scene holds as yet another character is ushered onto the scene. My smirk spills over into a grin.

"You're an embarrassment to our village," his voice is so clear and sharp that it feels as though it cuts straight through you.

He should be laughable. Hanging upside down and glaring at everyone as if they're something that personally disgusts him but he's not. I can smell the blood on him, thick and heady and lodged deep down the back of my throat.

Do you know what wins a fight eight times out of ten. Skill, strength, speed these all help of course but what _really_ wins a fight is the willingness to go where others won't. Brutality, having no barriers or restrictions just doing anything in your power to see the others blood smeared across every nearby surface.

I watch the cold sweat run down their faces under the unblinking flat wall of that boy's eyes.

"G, Gaara," Kitty stutters.

Gaara?

My head snaps from Kitty to the crimson haired boy with renewed interest.

'**Isn't that the name of one of the Jinchuriki?'**

"It is," I whisper in reply then frown slightly, "but he looks far too short to be a demon."

Despite my words I can feel my heart beating its fists against my ribs. They're real. Another Jinchuriki is right there. I almost expect him to disappear the moment I blink not that I dare to. No, believe in the nonchalance I'm playing. If I place too much trust in this...I don't know how to finish that thought but to make something fragile and precious is to only allow myself weakness. And I can't do that.

I'm Ren, I'm the strongest, the greatest demon of the bloody mist.

This blooming, pathetic hope is not something a demon posses.

"Losing yourself in a fight, how pathetic...why do you think we came to Konohagakure?" Gaara continues.

"L, look Gaara they started it," Kitty isn't looking so cocky anymore. In fact he's so paper thin right now I can almost see through the bravado at the little boy shaking in his sheets as the monsters rise up from under his bed.

"Shut up..." and they do, everything suffocates under the command, "...I'll kill you."

Maybe if I had grown somewhere else. Maybe if I had _been_ anyone else. I would have felt the same shiver crawling cold up the backs of the others in the midday sun. But I wasn't and I'm not. I've heard Uncle do this, felt the same words push their way past my lips. I must stink of blood as he does. So why do I feel disappointed in his words?

'**Ren...are you okay?'**

My thoughts shake loose from cutting down people like weeds in the mist, from blood on my face and my hands and God on everything.

'**...Ren?'**

A short, puff of air escapes my nose as sun and the sound of bird song pierce through the heavy mist that lends its name to home. I'm being stupid again.

I snort and roll my shoulders in an attempt to dislodge the dark creeping up my back.

The others are still frozen in place and I take the opportunity to slink closer. Not Kitty or the other Suna and not the pink haired girl with the vocal twitches, I guess that only leaves one option. I place my head directly behind the blonde boy's shoulder and resist the urge to wrinkle my nose at the sensation of the coarse golden spikes against my skin. He smells of sweat and Ramen and I can hear his heart thundering in his chest, see the cold sweat slid down the tanned skin of his neck. Is this what they look like when they see me. Like little mice caught in a Viper's stare.

"Oooh," I whistle, "what are you going to do now?"

"ARGGHHHHH!" The boy screams and flails his arms in a display so violently alarmed that he manages to punt himself onto his backside.

All eyes flick from the crimson haired boy to myself.

"How! How long were you creepin' around like that!" the blonde boy yells waving a pointing finger at me in equal parts surprise and outrage.

"We've been here the entire time," I reply brushing invisible specks of dust from the lapels of my jacket. Honestly, so dramatic.

"We?" the blonde's head swivels about at a furious pace and he even sniffs deeply a couple of times as if he can sniff this other being out. Now I look at him his head seems disproportionately large for his skinny neck. His features are as large and loud as the voice blaring from his mouth. And always moving as if trying desperately to keep up with the wild ramble of emotions that are undoubtedly pulsing about inside that little body of his.

"Isobu-sama and I," I reply then wrinkle my nose ever so slightly, "And may we say that is the most hideous jumpsuit we've ever seen."

And it honestly is. Such a garish shade of orange and the material looks like it'd be irritable on the skin. You'd think Konohagakure would clothe their weapon appropriately.

"Who the hell are you?" the black haired boy is scowling directly at me but from the hard sheen of those black-out eyes I get the impression this facial composition is anything but new to him.

"I," I smirk and flourish myself into a bow, "am Ren, the demon of the Bloody Mist."

"No you're not!" the blonde shouts still jabbing a finger at me, "We already beat that guy's ass and you're a lot shorter than him."

I frown in confusion and glance across at the pink haired girl as if she holds some form of answer. She's just staring at me with her mouth hanging open.

Fantastic.

"And you've got really weird eyes," the blonde continued squinting up at me from where he still sat with his cheeks puffed out and his bottom lip jutting forward like some strange, insulted chipmunk.

"Naruto you idiot!" the pink haired girl suddenly raged thumping her fist onto the crown of the blonde's head, "Her eyes are the same colour as my hair."  
"Ah! Sakura-chan, stop hitting me!" Naruto yells back, gripping the back of his head with both hands.

I pay little attention to them (even though part of me bristles at the girl's comment; my eyes are a much darker and striking pink than her hair), to the Suna nin who are already making their exit and the now identified Sakura as she questions them. My eyes are rooted on the back of the blonde's spiky head of hair.

"Naruto," I mummer and crumple the paper in my pocket until there's nothing but scrapes left.

**A/N:**

**As promised the next chapter. Thank you all so much again for the feedback I'm still kinda of shocked people are responding well to Ren considering she isn't very, well...nice. I probably won't update tomorrow or for a week since I'm off on HOLIDAY tonight :D (God it feels like forever since I've been off -.-) but I'll try if I can find anywhere that does free wifi. Anyway I hoped you liked this chapter.**

**THANKS FOR READING**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: I don't own Naruto only the OCs.**

11

"Why the hell are you still following me around huh?"

"Why?" I cock my head at the question, "because we want to."

Naruto's cheeks puff up in anger again and his blonde eyebrows pull over the suspicious squint he's been aiming at me all day. The bowl of Ramen I've ordered lies untouched before me while Naruto has managed to demolish six bowls in the space of twenty minutes. The heavy steam pulling up from the cooking area behind the bar softens the square, rough cut features of the boy's face, make the tiny scars that line his hands and cheeks invisible, make the dirt smeared on the edges of that _hideous_ jumpsuit less noticeable and all in all manages to lessen the trouble maker image that clings to him.

Naruto grumbles into his seventh bowl of Ramen (a food I detest and one whose scent seems to constantly circulate around him) slurping up the noodles into that large mouth of his while he continues to curse me and glare from the corner of his eyes.

It's all very amusing. I've trailed (though Ebosu-sama uses the word 'harassed') the boy non too shyly for the entirety of the day in an attempt to state my curiosity but still this Naruto is managing to interest me. He's part of the village yet he isn't. He lives here among them instead of being locked up in hollow rooms and yet he remains isolated. He's loud, sure of himself, stubborn but above all and the most perplexing he seems to want the others. He tries to _protect_ them.

I snort.

Maybe I should have followed the other but I gained the impression that hair wasn't the only thing coloured crimson on the Suna boy. No, that one didn't look as though he would abide my presence without me having to take his head far earlier than I'd like. Despite Naruto's grumbling and attempts (weak attempts may I add) to shake me he hasn't driven me away with stones yet so I was content to amuse myself until the time called for it to end.

"Are you gonna eat that?"

I blink once to clear my head and slowly move my eyes towards Naruto whose paused in wolfing down his meal to point his chopsticks at my own rapidly cooling bowl. Such an angry little face, all screwed up and stubborn.

"We may do," I reply resting my chin in my closed fist, "May we ask why you were inquiring."

"Nothin'," Naruto's bottom lip juts out again and he snaps his head away from my direction.

"So, would we be correct in assuming that you will also be partaking in the Chunin Exams?" I ask, slowly pushing my bowl of Ramen across the board surface of the dingy little Ramen bar he was so adamant in visiting.

Naruto's eyes dart once towards the bowl that I'm putting a conscious effort into not looking at in a play of offering the Ramen without either parties knowledge.

"Course," Naruto huffs, "I'm gonna be Hokage so I gotta pass these exams."

He pumps his fist and grins widely at me,"It's gonna be easy!"

My eyebrows furrow at the display and now it is my turn to snap my head away. How can he be so abundantly hopeful and energetic? It doesn't make sense! Maybe these other Jinchuriki aren't like me at all. Maybe they're like the _others_. Why does that thought make my chest sink? I'm holding out no hope for them. I could almost laugh at myself.

"So," Naruto begins then pauses before clearing his throat and continuing again, "_how come_ you've been following me around?"

"Like I said before, we want to," I answer turning back and blinking at the now empty bowl of what used to be my Ramen, "you aren't very intelligent are you if you have to ask a question twice."

"Hey!" Naruto yells thumping both hands on the table, an action that causes me to smirk and raise my eyebrows at him.

"Are you calling me stupid!" he demands while baring his chopsticks at me like a makeshift weapon.

"We are, yes," I grin.

"It's bad enough that you've been stalking me all day but now you're calling me a dumbass!" he continues.

"Oh? Did you have somewhere you needed to be?" I question, "perhaps we're derailing your own stalking schedule?"

"W-what? No!" Naruto splutters angrily with colour rising up his neck and ending at his ears, "I'm not a stalker you are...you...you big freaky eyed, posh talking fish weirdo!"

"Fish weirdo?" I blink at Naruto's passionate outburst then I start laughing. Loudly. Fish weirdo? My shoulders start to shake while a now puffing and pouting Naruto begins to creep closer with his expression caught between concern and suspicion. I hadn't been expecting that! Fish weirdo! I clutch my stomach and feel tears beginning to cluster at the edges of my eyes.

I don't think I've laughed like this in years (well at anything that hasn't come from my own blessed silver tongue). And it's becoming increasingly difficult to stop but I manage to. I wipe at my eyes and look across at a now unashamedly staring Naruto with an amused smirk.

"We apologise, us stalkers must stick together," my face begins solemn as I place a hand on my chest, "come let us stalk the object of your obsession together."

"Hey! I'm not a stalker!" Naruto yells.

"Of course not," I wink.

"You're so annoying," Naruto huffs, "if you're gonna keep following me you're gonna have to buy me more Ramen."

"As you wish," I smirk withdrawing the massive bundle of currency Hitoshi bestowed me with from my jacket pocket, "though you shouldn't eat this much; you stink and you're likely to become the first morbidly obese Nin I've met."

"I don't stink," Naruto scowls then grips his stomach through the rough material of his jumpsuit before mumbling, "and I'm not fat."

His eyes flick towards the bundle of notes once then snap back up again as his mouth falls open.

"Then we shall make it our mission to ensure you become so," I reply, "We think you'd look quite comical with your cankles spilling over your shinobi sandals and all four of your chins wobbling about furiously in the heat of battle."

No reply comes and after a moment of silence against the backdrop of voices and noises outside the crimson flaps of the Ramen bar I turn to Naruto with a bored expression and raised brows.

He's still staring at the money with his mouth hanging open.

"How...are you rich or somethin'?" he finally asks.

"Of course," I sniff, wiping imaginary dirt from the collar of my jacket, "I am the niece of Mizukage-sama."

"You're related to a Kage!"

...

Hitoshi rerights his glasses and settles his eyes on the bustle of foreign Nin that occupy the longue area of the building the Hokage has graciously prepared for the visiting Nin. It has been years in this world (twenty-five to be precise) and yet Hitoshi still manages to feel star struck at moments when seeing the great mess of natural and man-made elements that paint the scenes he read of so long ago. A lifetime, quite literally.

Aito is settled beside him as both foreigners in so many ways huddle themselves into a corner away from the bragging or suspicious eyed Genin. The first thing Hitoshi did upon returning was secure Ren's position with the sensory Nin the Mizukage had sent to be part of his team. She is with Naruto and Hitoshi is unsure as to whether the news should settle or terrify him. Naruto has a habit of changing people and Ren has a habit of sending them slowly insane. A maniacal enraged Naruto is not something Hitoshi wishes to factor into his preparations.

The two Genin have been sent here with Hitoshi and Ren for a purpose. One that directly challenges Hitoshi's. To call them Genin is an understatement. Both are closer to high-ranking Chunin level and both have been trained since they were five years old for their purpose. Push Ren to her boundaries, force her to loose control of Ebosu and complete the goal that Ebosu's previous host (Rin Nohara) failed. They plan to near kill her and kill Konohagakure through this process.

Hitoshi will not allow this to happen.

In fact he is certain it won't.

Fortunately enough the death of these Genin will not be entirely useless. Hitoshi can still make use of their identities when they are no longer capable. In fact for once he's almost glad for the Mizukage's overly paranoid brutality.

"What time are you thinking of proceeding?" Aito whispers.

"After the first exam and before the forest of death," Hitoshi answers, "I trust you will keep your word."

Aito's eyes flick over to his team with their arms crossed and a frown decorating the scarred ones face.

"I will."

...

Naruto hesitates outside the rough wooden door that I suppose is his in a dingy hall of rough wooden doors. The building stinks of damp and clusters of greenish circles are illuminated by the naked, blinking bulb above our heads. Frankly it's a dump. I've been wrinkling my nose at the off-white walls and bare floors since I followed Naruto up but the boy seems to be quite proud of the fact he is capable of living on his own.

I can't help but wonder at his circumstances. Is there a mother or father, brothers or sisters waiting behind the door that does not quite fill the gap cut out for it. Or is he alone.

It matters not either way. I'm still solid in my purpose to measure myself against these other Jinchuriki and prove that I am the strongest. Whether he sits there in an empty room with his knees drawn to his chest and hoping that there's someone, anyone out there who can hear him as I once did is no matter. I'm stronger than that now. And I'm going to use these other demons to prove it.

"So..." Naruto begins, scuffing his shoe against the chipped floorboards as he absent-mindedly swings one leg back and forth, "I'm going in now."  
"We are aware," I reply with a smirk and a nod.

"So..." Naruto's eyes dart pointedly towards the staircase that leads outside, "you better get back to your team and sensei and stuff."

"Of course not," I grin, "I'm staying inside your home."

"I'd say thanks for the Ramen but you were following me around all day," Naruto scowls at me, "and-"

Then I watch as what I've said sinks in and his face is instantly caught in-between outrage and surprise. Big, blue eyes are wide, blonde eyebrows dragged down over them and his wide, expressive mouth shifting from one unspoken word to another.

"You'd best open the door before we are all besieged by giant cockroaches," I point past his floundering form and towards the door.

"You can't stay in my house!" Naruto finally regains control of his speech and glares at me, "I never said you could and you've been following me all day! I'm not gonna let you in!"  
"That's perfectly fine," I smile, "We'll break in when you're asleep."

"That's illegal! And really creepy!" Nauruto yells, "You can't do that!"

"We can," my eyebrows furrow, "the locks look simple enough and we can always break down the door."

"You can't because it's against the law!" Naruto scowls so deeply his eyes become narrow slits.

"That means nothing," I sniff and wipe invisible lint from the edge of my jacket.

"Oh yeah, what makes you so special?" Naruto spits out and looks me up and down as if scanning for the source of my importance.

"I'm Ren," I shrug.

"That doesn't answer anything!" he huffs.

"It answers everything," I smirk, "We're the best."

"You sure do think alot of yourself," Naruto grumbles but he's already unlocking the door as he does so, "I hate cocky assholes like you and Sasuke-baka."

"That seems hypocritical from a boy whose claimed to be the future Hokage," I reply.

"That's not a boast," Naruto defends ardently, "that's a promise. I AM gonna be Hokage one day."

"We'll see Uzamaki," I shrug and smirk, "until then I suggest you bathe or at the very least brush your hair it would not do to have a Hokage appear so...unkempt."

"Hey! **Stop** calling me messy!"

...

He is asleep. And I have my hands curled around the handle of a kunai. The thin sheets are tangled around his legs and body from the messy struggles he's been warring against whatever monsters plague his sleep. My breath comes in slow and soft in the moonlight and the cool edge of the metal seeps through fingertips and into me.

It's time.

I don't know what brought on the sudden urgency but a lingering fear that if I allow Naruto to exist any longer...something terrible will happen to me and the solid ground I have built for myself. So why am I still standing here?

My fingers tighten and my hands shake for a moment before it falls away.

I am Ren.

I am Ren.

_I am.._

_"Ren, do it."_

_The child's eyes are wide. Staring up at me. Mercy. Where was my mercy? I'm a monster, monster's take lives. But..._

_But I can hear the rabbit heart beating inside the five year old's chest. See the dirty tracks her tears ran after seeing her parents taken by uncle's hand. The world is cruel and cruelty demands this child's life because they were unfortunate enough to be born into the wrong bloodline._

_"Ren."_

_Uncle. Please I can't add to the cruelty. Aren't there enough demons? Where are the angels, where are the heroes? There can't be villians without heroes, so when do the heroes arrive? The sky is blue, the rain is blue, the child's eyes are blue and they stare into mine, into me. Reaching with pale hands through the sheets of rain that has plastered my hair to my scalp._

_My hands shake._

_"Ren."_

_Blue eyes._

_Bright blue._

_Come on. Come on! I'm the demon of the Bloody Mist. I can do this. Why can't I do this?_

_"Please," she whispers into the silence that is only broken by the rain and then by the tearing sound of coral dragging itself free of the Earth and breaking the tiny, shaking body._

_My eyes widen._

**_'Ren...forgive Ebosu-boku...your uncle demanded it and you could not.'_**

_Blue eyes still on mine._

_Why is she still staring at me now she's blind?_

_Ebosu why? Why couldn't I do it. I was built for this. I've done this before. Why not now?_

_Blue eyes._

_Bright blue._

_The nightmares in the months to come would be filled with blue eyes._

No, those memories have nothing to do with now. The boy's not even human. He's a weaker version of me with a belly full of childish, idiotic dreams. He's a demon, he's more than a human but he still means nothing. I blink. The moon drags it's fingers against my form and pulls the shadow I cast over the sleeping Naruto taller. The boy dies. My name is Ren. I am the true demon of the Bloody Mist. The boy dies by my hand. You can't kill the strongest. And I am the strongest. I'll prove it. I'll prove it with this. And then, then they will all run and I will have nothing to fear or mourn over ever again. I'll be too strong. I'll be too strong for everything.

The blade moves, moonlight catching it's edge and illuminating Naruto's sleeping face with a sliver of pale light. The boy dies.

The boy dies now.

**A/N:**

**Annnndddd I LIVE! Literally just got back home an hour ago and I was like must. update. So how did you like the chapter, I know I'm being a bit of a shit head leaving it on a cliffhanger but I am really interested to hear about your opinions of Naruto and Ren's interactions.**

**Thanks for reading.**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: I don't own Naruto, only the OCs.**

12

"Nnnghhh," Naruto cries out in his sleep and moves to bat back invisible assailants, "I'm sorry. Stop."

The blade slides from my grip as my eyes widen.

I stare at Naruto with my heart threatening to leap from my throat like a live, individual thing that is beyond my control. And this time I can actually see him. Not the boy I have to kill to prove myself. Not a name on the list. Not the demon.

A little boy who's scared and alone as I am.

No.

NO!

I'm not scared! I'm Ren! I AM THE BEST! Everyone fears me because they have every reason! I am not a child crying out in her sleep. This...this isn't right, IT ISN'T TRUE!

'**Ren...are you alright?'**

I'm fine. Perfectly fine. I'll finish him. I'll kill him.

I fall to my hands and knees and scramble about for the fallen kunai. Where is it? Naruto's yelling out again and I have to grit my teeth against the noise of my own nightmares so akin to his. Where's that damn kunai!

'**Ren please calm down.'**

I AM calm! Heh, I smirk, maybe not. I breathe in deeply then release in one slow wave. Rising to my feet I lower my hands and feel Ebosu's chakra rush into my palms at my command. Naruto dies. I can kill him. I will kill him.

.

.

.

Then why am I still staring down at the deep rise and fall of his skinny chest. I shake my head before raising it up to stare blandly at the ceiling. Then before I know what the hell I'm doing and why the hell I'm doing it a laugh bubbles up in my chest and escapes in quick bursts. I can do it. I know I can. My eyes move downward towards Naruto still tangled up in his sheets and scowling against demons I cannot see.

Slowly I lift my hand and the demonic chakra hums and bubbles in my veins at the command. The small spire of coral punctures through the mattress and tears the sheets with its jagged head. So close, Naruto's sleeping breath is even easing over what should have been his death. So why wasn't it? I grit my teeth again; so violently that I can hear the calcium grind.

Very well, if I can't kill him with Ebosu's power I'll use my bare hands. They shake as I move them through the darkness towards the tanned expanse of Naruto's throat. I can see the air moving beneath his skin. My fingers flex. A tiny bit closer. Then I can wrap my fingers around his neck and squeeze.

_"Ren."_

Mere centimetres away, my hands still shake and my fingers still twitch uselessly.

_"Ren, kill him."_

I can feel his breath. I can feel it in the room. I can feel the muscle in his chest pumping life through his body.

_"Demon, I heard it eats the souls of its victims."_

He has to die. He HAS to.

_"Ren, how was your day?"_

_"Kill him."_

_"If you continue misbehaving the child demon will devour you."_

_"Stay away from it, it's evil."_

_"That sounds awfully lonely."_

_"Kill them Ren. Kill them all. That's an order."_

_"Weapons do not have friends and shinobi do not get upset."_

_"It's not even human. I don't know who to be more terrified of, Mizukage-sama or that thing he keeps leashed to his side."_

_"Ren, do you intend to sit with your uncle awhile? As long as you do not disturb my work I see no problem with your request."_

_"Every last one Ren. I want them all dead. They will learn what it means to defy their Mizukage."_

_"Ren."_

_'__**Ren.'**_

_"Demon."_

_"Monster."_

**_'Ren...are you alright? Ebosu-boku is concerned.'_**

_"Ren."_

"Hey!"

"Ah, crap I've forgotten your name...erm...-Rin-san? Are you alright? Hey, can you hear me? Oh shit, shit, shit. Rin!"

Blearily I'm aware of the presence of heat from human skin seeping into my shoulders. Very distantly I am aware of the pressure of my knees pulled so tightly against my face that my stomach cramps in protest against the unrelenting tightening. My breath is escaping my lungs in quick, frenzied pants but it all hardly matters as I'm still so very far away; powerlessly watching the scene as if standing on the other shore of a vast lake. Where is that demon's courage now? Where is it when I need it? When I feel as though every fibre and particle of myself is shaking so violently it might break apart.

"Hey! Answer me! Are you alright?"

Naruto's voice, rough at the edges and so damned loud that human foghorn doesn't seem too cruel a title. He's shaking my shoulders, fingers crumpling up the camouflage material of my jacket. Ah, that's my favourite jacket and now it's going to stink of Ramen. I hate Ramen.

"Hey! There's so need to be so damn rude!" Naruto yells, his face screwed up with outrage.

A snicker escapes my throat. It seems I may have voiced that out loud. Ha, what a pathetic scene I must make. I can't even kill a thirteen year old boy. At least not as pathetic as the frankly confusing look of concern that worries Naruto's face.

"Hey...look, are you alright? I heard a bang and then when I looked around you were just sitting here by my bed like this," Naruto pries my arms from my face non too gently even though it's evident by the look of concentration and his tongue peeking up out of one corner of his mouth that he's trying to be careful but by nature is far too heavy handed.

"I'm perfectly fine," I reply, rising swiftly to my feet and knocking Naruto onto his ass (again) in the process.

Wiping the shoulders of my jacket that have been contaminated by Naruto I tilt my head ever so slightly as I address him, "We were merely searching for somewhere in the room that wasn't covered in filth."

"You-you," Naruto's cheeks puff up again and his face takes on that unhealthy red colour.

"Alas, our efforts proved pointless," I sigh then peer around the room with a mixture of distaste and bemusement, "this place really is a dump."

"Arghhh!" Naruto fumes, "You're a real-"

"Fish weirdo," I smirk, "we are aware. Now we must be going."

"Huh?" Naruto blinks up at me, "you're goin'?"

"Oh, course or would you prefer that we stayed in your room with you?"

Naruto's face immediately blooms red from neck to ear-tips, "What! No! I didn't even say you could come in in the first place, you creepy stalker!"

"Uzamaki please such heartfelt farewells are causing us to tear up," I smirk impishly.

And with that I'm already across the room and crouched on the window ledge. I hear Naruto's unfavourable mutterings before I'm out in the streets and the chill night air. When I'm far enough away and swathed either side by the walls of a pokey alleyway I finally allow myself pause. My hands are still shaking.

I will kill Naruto.

I know this.

I just need to get stronger, strong enough that those damned whisperings won't plague me again and then there will be nothing to sink its hooks beneath my skin and drag me back. It's not the taking of life that bothers me. There are only three lives that hold any measure of importance in the world as I perceive it. They are my uncle, Ebosu-sama and most importantly my own.

Naruto will die by my hand.

Just not quite yet.

…

The two ANBU stationed outside Naruto's window breathe a sigh of relief as the thirteen year old girl pulls herself from the wall and hums tunelessly as she meanders back to the visiting Nin's quarters. Ren of the Bloody Mist will have to watched. Whether she acted on her own desires in that attempted murder or her uncle's isn't the immediate issue. The fact that two Jinchuriki almost attacked one another in the heart of Konohagakure is.

Their suspicions are mirrored the next morning when a scowling Sasuke and an inwardly fuming Sakura are forced to collect their unusually tardy team mate. Both had kept their distance from Naruto after the pink-eyed girl that had been glued to him had proved…eccentric and non-too polite but at that point Sasuke had not been any more suspicious of her as he was of any of the other foreign Nin (which is pretty suspicious but still confident in his own capabilities). Hearing that the girl had basically threatened to break and enter Naruto's home had cranked that inbred scepticism up a grade but Naruto had a habit of picking up odd friends so there wasn't anything too worrying. The girl had self-professed to be the True Demon of the Bloody Mist but then again so many Genin had illusions to grandeur and Sasuke had seen nothing of her abilities to suggest it to be anything more than a boast. So overall he was suspicious but that wasn't anything new to Uchiha Sasuke.

However it was what he found in Naruto's bedroom when bored by Sakura's loud and violent scolding of Naruto's living conditions he rolled his eyes and found them settling on the open doorway. A quick glance at the two to confirm that his presence was still being ignored (a fact that irked him as much as pleased him) and Sasuke slipped into the frankly chaotic space. Kneeling down (careful not to touch any discarded piles of clothing, half open scrolls or empty instant Ramen cups) Sasuke reached out and inspected the Kunai that lay neglected beside Naruto's bed. Then both dark eyes trailed up to the spot where pillow, mattress and wooden frame had been split open into a clear hole with no sign of what caused the puncture.

Sasuke frowned as he spun the Kunai around one long finger.

"Hey moron, did she stay in your room?" he called back into the main area where Naruto's yells of protest were getting gradually louder.

"Huh," Naruto's head popped round the door, "who?"

"The girl from yesterday, idiot," Sasuke replied drily.

"Yeah she was in here when I woke up, why?" Naruto immediately answered before biting at the insult, "and don't call me an idiot! I'm not the one kneeling in some other guy's underwear!"

"You leave your dirty underwear on the floor?" Sakura paled.

"Er…"Naruto laughed sheepishly while rubbing at the back of his spikey, blonde head.

Sakura muttered something under breath and cast a embarrassed Naruto a distinctly unimpressed look before turning to address Sasuke.

"Why Sasuke-kun? Did you find something important?" Sakura questioned as she hovered on the threshold to the germ infested hell that is Uzamaki Naruto's bedroom.

Sasuke pocketed the kunai in one smooth motion then rose to his feet and faced his two teammates with his trademark intimidating apathy. His hands found themselves wedged in his pockets and his shoulders rolled forward as if trying to keep the world and its inhabitants at bay.

"Hn," he grunted and was already pacing his way out of Naruto's apartment.

As he walked Sasuke's fingers ran the smooth edge of the Kunai rammed at the bottom of his pocket. Someone else just made it onto his rapidly growing shit list.

…

I must admit attaching numerous candied sweets to Hitoshi's bald dome of a head is wonderfully therapeutic. The man sat there, smiling politely at every weird look he got from the other occupants of the structure's dining room while I perched on the back of the sofa he sat at and constructed a most magnificent crown of sticky pink bonbons. To say that I was using excessive force when I slammed sweet after sweet onto Hitoshi's edible headwear is a matter of relative opinion.

I suppose some would like to say I had learnt a valuable lesson from last night's escapade; that I had discovered a glimmer of this so called humanity that I was so vehement in denying. But no. The fact Naruto was still out there somewhere breathing and yelling and stuffing his face full of greasy noodles had not inspired a sudden change of heart.

In fact the opposite was quite true. Now that I was away from his company, the moment of weakness had been brushed off as a egocentric form of self-indulgence like Naruto was some wine I was waiting to mature. It only made sense; Naruto seemed like the last one to expect anything. He'd even just lay there while I trembled over his sleeping body with an upraised blade. I couldn't kill not because_ I_ wasn't good enough but because _he_ wasn't good enough. Somehow subconsciously I must have known this all along and saved myself from making a terrible mistake while under the guise of suffering from flashbacks that most definitely had no effect on me.

Yes, that all seemed completely believable.

"What the hell is she doing to that guy's head?"

"Leave it Kankuro, Gaara already told us to mind our own business."

"Yeah but his eyes look like they're going to pop out their sockets."

"I said leave it."

My head snapped up just as I was smoothing another sweet over my tongue. Ah, Kitty and his surly sister. The two are only made identifiable by the boy stood silent as the grave behind them. Gaara of the sands. A smirk rose on my lips. Now there's a demon I wouldn't stand there shaking over. In fact although the boy looked as though he had all the personality of drying paint there was some entertainment to be had.

It would be fun testing whether or not the boy could kill me before I managed to kill him.

Though the chance seemed slim it had to be better than Naruto's.

"Ren-san, may I inquire as to what you are smirking about?" Hitoshi spoke up.

'**Ren…Isobu-boku thinks you should not involve yourself with the other Jinchuriki, he looks…dangerous.'**

"Bullshit Isobu-sama," I smiled, "we'll be fine."

**'…Isobu-boku is not so sure. Especially after last night…maybe you should just get through the Exams?'**

"And where, my dear, is the challenge to that?" I hummed, "besides nothing at all happened last night besides the very disturbing prospect that we may need to get several jabs after spending extended periods of time in that crap shack Uzamaki called an apartment."

'**….why do you never listen to Isobu-boku?'**

"Because you're always sensible and I'm far too glittery."

Eyeing up my targets I flicked Hitoshi out of the way (who as usual whenever I spoke to Isobu-sama was watching me with rapt curiosity and committing every word to that admittedly impressive memory of his) and rooted around in my brown paper bag for a stick of liquorice. Pulling my tongue across it in own long swipe I kept my eyes on the Suna Nin who were far too busy looking self-important and intimidating to notice.

'**…Ren, Isobu-boku really doesn't think you should do this.'**

"Don't worry Isobu-sama," my smirk grew as I expertly lined up my shot, "I'll protect you."

And with that the now soggy liquorice whip was sailing towards the Sand Siblings.

**A/N:**

**I was seriously debating updating this with a fake chapter where Naruto is murdered by Ren just to be an asshole and see the reactions. I think Ren is starting to infect me O.O I swear I never had these tendencies before. Anyway hoped you like the chapter and the next should be up Wednesday since I'm going to get into the routine of every other day.**

**Somehow I get the impression that Isobu might be right :/ Ren might be getting herself involved in something she really can't handle. If anyone's wondering why she hasn't really got involved in any of the other Naruto characters yet or more specifically the Rookie 9 it's simply because Ren isn't interested in anyone but other Jinchuriki at this point because she believes only other demons are at least capable of reaching her own high opinion of herself (Jesus Christ I've never made a character this vain and twisted).**

**Thanks for reading.**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: I don't own Naruto.**

**A/N:  
Okay I usually do these at the bottom but this is kind of important. I haven't got any pairings in mind for Ren at the moment while I'm writing this and I was just wondering whether or not you think there should be and if the cause is yes who? I'd be really grateful to hear you're opinion because I've only just realised that I haven't even addressed that front (though she's only 13 currently so it probably won't happen for awhile). I'd especially be grateful for suggestions and reasons (taking into account Ren's personality). It'd be brilliant if you guys could give any feedback on this :3**

**Anyway super short chapter just so next chapter can be the start of the exams.**

13.

There was a loud satisfying 'thwack' as black candy strip made unforgiving contact with the painted face of the Kazekage's oldest son. The slow-cooking drone of voices grew even lower as Genin attempted to keep the din least they attract the attention of the trio (who had already been listed as dangerous after a single night) but as they tried over hear the scene they were hoping would play out.

Kankuro's speech curled up and died somewhere in his throat, his hand snapped up and snatched away the spit slicked liquorice then crushed it in his fist. Even Hashimoto Hitoshi had tensed with wary fingers straying towards the scalpels he kept latched about his skinny waist. And for myself, I was trying desperately hard not to piss myself laughing.

'**Ren, stop they'll hear you.'**

The final straw came in the form of Kankuro looking down at the mashed piece of liquorice as if it were some form of U.F.O. which I suppose it was seconds ago. The snickers grew as I made no attempt to muffle them and every set of eyes in the room shot towards me with a clear 'are-you-absolutely-insane' look. His make-up smudged, his kitty hat and the furious expression just made Kankuro look like a children's clown who had just had a particularly bad day at work. God who was he trying to kid? He was about as intimidating as a mentally disabled Earthworm.

" .That?" Kankuro's voice seeped out and stilled the room into silence. His sister (who still remained unnamed) stood at his shoulder casting a withering glare over each and every person.

Most senior heads jerked my way while the younger occupants were taught somewhere between reaching for weapons and trying to sink through solid objects.

Kankuro's head swirled to meet me and I grinned wide and close eyed at him while waggling the fingers of one hand in a hello. Kankuro looked ready to burst a blood vessel. I thought shinobi were meant to be cool and collected, evidently the standards are lower in Sunagakure. I'll be very disappointed if that applies to their Jinchuriki too. Tailing Konohagakure's resident demon had proven to be a rather unchallenging pastime if this one was also weak then the entire trip would have been a waste of my time.

"Another little shit," Kankuro's eyes narrowed, "what's wrong with all the brats here?"

"Kankuro look at her headband she's not from here," his sister was measuring me out. _That_ was a lot more promising, at least she could sense that there was something not quite right with my comfort at antagonising older and what should be more powerful shinobi. Though that did mean there was some hope of a _real_ test with the only individual in the room I was interested in it also meant an encounter with her would be far less amusing. It's no fun if they think it's coming.

"Does it matter?" Kankuro spat, "I'm sick of punk brats like that kid over there thinking they can screw with me and get away with it."

I'm not really paying attention to them. It's the shorter figure standing three paces behind the pair that poses a curiosity. He still hasn't said a word; he still hasn't so much as twitched even though I've been waiting for him to intercept as he did before.

"Alright you little shit," Kankuro is now reaching up for that wrapped package. A smile pulls at my lips as I pull out another liquorice whip and begin gnawing on it. I lean forward. I really wouldn't mind seeing what he has in that bundle. I've definitely never seen anything like it in Kirigakure before, explosives maybe? Now that would be entertaining.

"Please refrain from any violence," Hitoshi rises smoothly from his seat and still manages to somehow look respectable despite the fact there are over twenty bonbons stuck to his bald head.

Kankuro and his sister eye Hitoshi up and down as the man smiles sickly sweet at the both and polishes his glasses with a cloth that's materialised from nowhere. My face screws up in disgust. The great ape is ruining any chance I have and not only that but something about his attitude his making me feel like the smaller party here.

"Ren-san is a valuable commodity to our village and Mizukage-sama would be displeased if you were to cause it harm," Hitoshi continues, "We are representing our villages here as their future shinobi. To initiate a fight in the accommodation Hokage-sama has so graciously granted us would be a great insult to his hospitality and would not reflect well on the level of control the shinobi from your village possess."

He's just about to add to that sentence when a sharp bald slap to the side of his head forces out of my way and my line of sight.

"Sit down, you're blocking the view," I frown childishly, clearly not in the mood to allow his obstructions.

"I apologise Ren-san but Mizukage-sama has given us our orders," Hitoshi replies.

"Hitoshi to us you're on about the same level as a dog turd, unappealing and sadly everywhere. We are not accustomed to taking orders from faeces" I sighed when Hitoshi merely continued to look at me as if waiting for a different answer.

It was almost as though he had been expecting me to undergo a massive change and the simple truth that I remained very much as I had always been wasn't quite clicking yet. It was almost as though…he knew about what I did not manage last night. In fact now I think I on it, Hitoshi had been the one to give me the names of both Jinchuriki and had even mentioned that my Uncle wasn't aware that there were two. How would a Jounin be acquainted with such information and a Kage not? Simple answer, they wouldn't. Unless of course the Jounin in question was masquerading as something else. There was also his bizarre fascination rather than fear with Ebosu-sama and the way he was constantly hungry for information on or demonstrations of the acts a Jinchuriki could perform.

All this and I wish I could say I was intrigued or at least suspicious. But Hitoshi still didn't interest me. Yes, he very well may be planning something. Yes, he could be something more than he pretends to be. Yes, he could mean me harm. Did I rightly care? No. Hitoshi was on such a lower level that anything he was currently dissecting in that clever little brain of his still seemed boring.

"Hitoshi," I continued in the low tone we had been using as I stepped over him, "when will you all understand? None of you matter."

Hitoshi said nothing and made no move to stop me. I couldn't tell if my words had sunk in at all or not since the man always wore that disgusting friendly smile.

I snorted.

Kankuro and his sister were still standing there watching the whispered exchange with varying levels irritation. I moved past them, they weren't interesting either. Finally I made it to the demon but now I was standing in front of the pale, poker faced boy I had no idea what to say (a state I wasn't really accustomed to). My presence had no effect on the boy at all; I may as well have been waves against a rock wall for all my influence. I didn't like that. I didn't like that at all.

I don't know rightly what I had been planning. I knew what I wanted from other Jinchuriki but still no idea of how to make those visions a reality. So far there had been nothing but disappointment with them. So when Gaara's pupil turquoise eyes seared straight through the point of my forehead protector that was at his eye-level (and the boy was already short for his age so I'm taking this as an ill omen that I may end up with Uncle's child-like stature too) I did something that once again I didn't rightly know why I was doing it. It was becoming an irritating habit or maybe I'd always done things without thinking them through the only habit I was now developing was a tendency to reflect on them.

I nodded once in acknowledgement then walked right past him.

…

Hitoshi breathed a sigh of relief as Ren exited the room, her three ash brown low ponytails swinging about her and a tuneless song on her lips (the one she had learnt from her uncle if he was correct).

"Hey! Get back here," Kankuro growled.

"Leave it," Temari snapped at him then lowered her voice to a whisper, "you know Gaara's been shaky since we got here, don't piss him off."

Kankuro's eyes flashed anxiously to a still silent and unmoving Gaara once then he nodded his head at Temari's request.

"They'll all learn soon enough anyway," Temari smirked.

Gaara's eyes were on Hitoshi once for a brief second and still Hitoshi felt as though a landslide had pushed itself on his chest then the Jinchuriki followed his siblings out.

Ren was not meant to be a problem. In the machinations that Hitoshi had devised, being Ren's sensei had only played a minor part. He had expected to be teaching the shy, scared little girl that he had found in the slums that day not this. With her old image in mind Hitoshi had believed transferring her trust in her uncle to himself would have been easy enough with only a few displays of caring affection. And then he would have secured her safety from the Atasuki (since at the moment, Obito in the form of Yagura need only ask her to undergo the ritual and she would comply without complaint), gained more standing and obtained a powerful ally in the process.

What he had found though was…sad really; stronger than her old self, more confident and independent yes but still there was some vital part of her that was dying. Isobu, from what Hitoshi could discern through conversations shared between the demon and its host, was not a bloodthirsty monster like Kurama and Shukaku. In fact although most of the biju seemed protective of their prisons as a Jinchuriki's death might mean their own death Isobu gave the impression of being almost fond of Ren's company. So what Ren had become could not be blamed on the demon that had been an unexpected source of support but instead on her fellow human beings.

Kirigakure was no haven, Hitoshi would never dispute that. He hadn't expected to live past two years when he discovered that he had been reborn in that godforsaken village. But still even though the children beat each other mercilessly over scraps they were still a plural, children not child, they still had each other. Ren had been alone. Besides Isobu Ren had always been alone.

So it was honestly little surprise that she ceased to even consider herself human and instead saw herself as a demon when the only being she'd gained any form of comfort from wasn't even a member of her own race and instead a thing from nightmares.

She still craved attention from only one figure and he was the root of the majority of Ren's issues. She wasn't a quick learner and didn't gain any instinctive understanding of Jutsus (in fact the only ones she seemed adamant in learning were the ones Yagura used otherwise as a teacher it was near impossible to grab her attention). If the Three Tails hadn't have been sealed inside her and she hadn't had shown phenomenal skill in respect to using its power she honestly wouldn't have managed as a shinobi. If Ren wasn't a Jinchuriki Yagura would have had no use for her and she most likely would have starved at an early age.

Being prized as a weapon by the only living relative that she recognised had saved her life but it had also made her spoilt. Her Uncle nurtured both this and her alienation, safe in the knowledge that he was the only one who could dish out orders to her without meeting any resistance. He gave her everything she asked for in material possessions and rarely scolded except when she defied him in any form in which case her punishment tended to be severe even by Bloody Mist standards. Her Uncle's hand was always on her shoulder, keeping the few harder children who would maybe debate befriending a Jinchuriki out and keeping a Ren who was desperate not to lose the only human tie she had in.

This only meant that the supposed 'evil' Ren possessed had in the villager's eyes grown. Ren wasn't just a demon in human form; to them she was a demon working solely for the devil himself. Hitoshi had walked with Ren once when he had been ordered to attend a meeting at the Mizukage's offices and when Ren had been returning from those dilapidated buildings she claimed as her kingdoms. Everywhere he looked there had been suspicious eyes, people physically sinking as far away from the girl chewing on sweets as they could and even a couple of muttered threats. How she had not so much as blinked, Hitoshi did not know. He was on good terms with all these people; he'd made it a mission to build connections with nearly everyone and yet seeing them in the presence of the little girl had actually shocked him.

Instead of gaining a sense of inferiority due to her Jinchuriki status as many others had Ren instead gained a borderline extreme superiority complex. Taking in her label and turning it to mean she was somehow above everyone else Ren had then begun to show tendencies of treating people like playthings to elevate her dissatisfaction with them all with no regard for their personal feelings or welfare. All in all the scared, lonely little girl had transformed into an arrogant, cruel imp who had no respect for anyone but her Uncle and a sickeningly high regard for herself.

And yet.

And yet, Hitoshi still felt something in Ren could pull through. In her list of qualities 'liar' could be repeated often. And there was no one Ren was better at lying to than herself. The very act of showing a practically obsessive interest in other Jinchuriki to Hitoshi signalled that Ren still craved companionship and although giving up on humans was now subconsciously trying to find it through different means. She didn't outright attack anyone and although she often teased and taunted others most cases weren't outright malicious but more like she wasn't even_ aware_ that others could feel like she felt.

Right now Ren was hovering at a crossroads and it all depended on whether or not that part she tries to suffocate (the one that stays her hand, the one that has her staring wistfully into family homes at night, the one that lets her whisper secrets to Isobu when she thinks no one else is around) can be dug out or not.

She could come out the Chunin Exams healing as Gaara had done and would.

Or she could emerge from this ten times worse.

Hitoshi sighed again, she wasn't meant to be this much of a problem.

**Thanks for reading :D**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Sorry this took forever. I seriously underestimated how hard it was to get chapters in everyday when you don't have a massive backlong of completed ones to fall back on so from now on updates will be weekly, sorry.**

14

This had to be a joke.

Arms folded and bottom lip pushed out suddenly I glared at Hitoshi as if the man had raided my sweet supply (actually if Hitoshi did ever commit such an act, the man would be losing a hand…at best).

"A written test?" I repeat.

Hitoshi smiles and nods.

I don't ask him how he knows what the Exam stages will entail, I don't rightly care. Even though I have the mastery of every skill that matters, literacy seems to be a…weak point. Not that I'm worried. I can still progress with genius level results. Yes, the only reason I'm sour about this is because it's such a ridiculous request.

"The aim of this section of the Exam will be to collect information from the other candidates by copying their answers," Hitoshi continues then turning to the two Nin uncle sent addresses them, "I'm sure you two have already devised strategies for situations such as this."

Both nod in unison and only now I notice that neither has said a word since they were introduced.

"As for you Ren-san I believe deploying the mirror technique that Mizukage-sama uses and you were so keen to be educated in may be the most beneficial method. I am aware that at the present the size of the mirrors you create are lacking but you only need to place it at an angle that allows you to-"

Hitoshi blinks, "Ren-san, are you feeling well? You appear paler than moments ago."

"Huh?...Yes well we, erm, are outraged that these Konoha Nin would devise such a test. It's cowardly and dull and we care nothing for it," I sniff haughtily.

At the moment it's proving hard to address Hitoshi with indifference when my mind keeps pulling back to memories of hours spent lying on my stomach alone in my room and trying to improve spidery, unintelligible handwriting. I never thought it would be an issue; I wasn't built to sign documents only to become a weapon for Uncle.

'**Ren…Isobu-boku thinks you will be fine, you only have to copy what someone else has written and Isobu-boku thinks you read well.'**

The word thanks is almost on my tongue before I swallow it and cast Hitoshi a suspicious glare.

"You will need to do this to pass Ren-san," Hitoshi sighs, "is there a genuine complaint as to why you are so opposed to this test?"

"Besides the insult to our intelligence, no, no there isn't."

"A battle is not ordinarily a straightforward affair, stealth and cunning are two indispensable tools for a shinobi."

I make no reply and Hitoshi takes my silence as grudging acceptance.

"Excellent. Now I must be leaving I trust you three will find room 301 on your own?" Hitoshi smiles.

I snort and stuff another caramel ball in my mouth.

"You seem to be a particularly bad mood today Ren-san, is anything bothering you?" Hitoshi manages to fake concern rather well.

"We seem to be in a particularly good mood if you remain breathing after such a personal comment," I smirk.

But Hitoshi is right (a revelation that has my skin crawling but proves true nonetheless). I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm so accustomed to feeling anything but the apathetic slump that has settled on my shoulders. Every action seems like an unwanted distraction from the mire; a mire that I want no part of and yet don't seem able to ignore. Ridiculous but I'm feeling…frustrated with myself and the very thought alone lowers my mood. I just need a distraction, a good fight or challenge and then I'll be right as rain. I know it.

"Very well Ren-san, goodbye," and with that Hitoshi disappears.

I huff in the now silence. Writing? Seriously I cannot allow myself to be affected by such a miniscule drawback. Chewing sullenly on the caramel that's sticking between my teeth I try to pinpoint the centre of this sudden inner wavering. Only one thing has really changed. I met the other Jinchuriki. Somehow they have to doing this.

...

Ridiculous. These humans are ridiculous. I sit there, legs swinging over the edge of one of the metal framed tables, back against the wall and hand readily supplying my mouth with hard candy ball, and it takes an enormous amount of effort not to laugh. These 'shinobi' are barely out of puberty, scowling around their thin, bum fluff moustaches or displaying their barely existent chests and acting as if having to retake the same test again and again is some badge of merit.

Oh, Uncle would have a field day destroying these pretenders.

The thought makes the wicked smirk grow and my hands twitch. They have no notion of what they're up against and it's almost too funny. Showcasing tiny nicks and elaborate but essentially useless weapons to each other like this is some card game convention. No idea, none. My eyes fall on the silent shape of Gaara and the space around him that has been wordlessly vacated. Maybe some idea then, maybe some primal part of their minds isn't being wholly ignored.

This place stinks of too many humans packed into too small an area. I don't think I've been in the same room as this many people before and the proximity of the mass of breathing bodies has my feet jangling and slapping against one another in reined anticipation. What's better is they keep on piling in. Continually those doors swing open and spit out new trios of I'm-going-to-look-and-act-like-I'm-a-badass-but-re ally-I'm-almost-shitting-myself-but-still-you'll-t hink-I'm-cool-because-I've-only-got-one-ear-pierce d-and-an-edgy-haircut wannabe shinobi.

I've already visited the Konohagakure Candy store (I'm ashamed to admit it is much better than the Kirigakure one)and I can only suppose I'm wearing the same expression as I had when I was reaching up towards jars of multi-coloured candies. Well, I'm pretty sure the expression is similar if the nervous and unnerved looks that slide my way are anything to go by.

The doors pull open again and I lean forward from where I sit to eye up the new arrivals. There standing beside his teammates is Naruto, mouth hung slack with shock and hands limp and useless at his sides. Gaara hasn't done anything interesting yet (for once I decided to allow Isobu-sama rest and not poke the demon boy with a stick like a dead animal to check whether or not he was breathing) which is more than a little disappointing and rather dull to watch. Naruto at least may offer some entertainment.

Maybe I can watch him guzzle down another fifty bowls of Ramen since that act so obviously defies the laws of logic. Though where would he keep the food? I mull this over as I slip from my place at the very back of the room and weave in-between the forest of giants. Elbowing crouches, stamping backs with half eaten sweets and generally leaving a murmuring wave of complaint behind me as I go I manage to sneak myself near the front and remain undetected there thanks to my tiny stature (because everyone truly powerful is short, these are facts).

"SASUKE-KUN!"

My eyes instantly start towards the pink haired girl (same colour as my eyes, my ass) but she's still standing there staring out at the other Genin like she's been thrown into a pit full of hungry wolves. Instead the dour-faced boy Naruto associates with his being attacked by a grinning blonde. What is it exactly about him that causes these females to act so absurdly? He doesn't look as though he warrants any attention, I tailed Naruto for entire day and the other boy did little less except glower and grunt. And it's not as though he has a demon locked behind that pale complexion to make him infinitely more interesting. I sigh and screw my lips up. Humans are ridiculous and fundamentally stupid there's little point in trying to make sense of their actions especially when they're so erratic.

"I haven't seen you in a while, I've been waiting for you," the blonde blushes and appears seemingly unaffected by the tilt of her affections mouth and the irritated slope of his eyes.

The pink haired girl is screaming, the blonde is screaming back; it's all very loud and all very dull. My eyes and shoulders slump in boredom. Back to convincing Isobu-sama that repeatedly poking Gaara with a stick is in the best interests of his and our continued health. As I'm scanning the crowd again I fail to notice that the group Naruto has been orbiting around has trembled in size that is until they're all being so very loud again. A cursory scan and still nothing of interest except briefly wondering whether or not the boy with the dog on his head has a problem with clean up.

"Hey you guys, you should be more quiet."

What's this? Cocking my head I look past the clustered group of thirteen year olds and towards the speaker. I had expected some grinning, scarred ape of a youth complete with gang of cronies and a nocked tilt to his stance but the speaker is so Hitoshi-like that instant disgust coils up at his presence.

"You guys are rookies just out the Academy right?" the man continues on even though his audience makes no reply and just stand there staring blankly, "Screaming like school girls…jeez…this isn't a picnic."

On I beg to differ. This is the best picnic I've ever been to (and the first so my vision may be a little distorted on the subject). These…Genin won't even know what hit them. It's taking every ounce of my self-control to linger there popping sweet after sweet into my mouth without starting a brawl just for the sake of it.

"Who do you think you are?" the blonde hisses.

"I'm Kabuto but instead of that, look behind you," Kabuto as he's newly been identified smirks.

Instantly I step backwards and dematerialise among the jittering crowd. Dodging away from the line of the Genin's nervous eyes I miss much of what this Kabuto says next though that's hardly a loss when it's most likely dripping with arrogance on a subject he should not rightly be proud of. My interest is peeked again however when Kabuto whips out a collection of cards and slaps them in one hand.

"Then I'll share some info with you cute rookies," I frown tipping forward on the balls of my feet again to crane closer, "with these nin-info cards."

Information on the others? There's only two people here (and anywhere most likely) that I hold any interest for. My ego however is pelting towards discovering exactly what he has on me. It damn well better be impressive!

"Nin-info cards?" the pink haired girl questions.

The Genin huddle closer towards Hitoshi's haired look alike and I take the opportunity to slip myself around the back of the group. Kabuto kneels down and placing one spidery finger atop the deck begins to explain.

"They are basically cards which have info burned onto them with Chakra. I have four years' worth of info here, over 200 cards…" Kabuto tapers off in a shameless attempt to appear mysterious but only manages mildly forgetful.

The Genin huddle in like children watching a party trick. They're so naïve. They know nothing about this man. I can afford to be careless, I have power to rely on but something tells me that one serious encounter and so many of these 'rookies' would fall like skittles. Taking them all down would take such little effort. Admittedly I fully expect Gaara to prove himself the challenge I've been craving but the other Jinchuriki. Naruto suddenly looks so fragile, with his big, bobbly head held on that tiny, unguarded neck and full toothed grin mouthing off to people who could snap him across their knee.

Something unwinds in my gut and the smirk and gaze I've been shadowing the blonde boy with becomes uneasy. I couldn't kill him the other night but I fully anticipate to in the future. He isn't **allowed** to be crushed and left battered with his little limbs broken around him by anyone else. That's entirely my right, it's the only reason he's been singled out. I'm meant to destroy the other demons no one else is allowed to gain that power.

"They look blank," Kabuto continues and my daze snaps away, "but to open the info on these cards…"

"What are you doing?" the blonde snaps.

She and the tub-roll she's leaning by watch with the others as the hard packed dirt around the card Kabuto is addressing flings about dust in swirling arcs. Interesting.

"You can't view them unless I use my chakra for example…"

I lean in closer (how the others haven't noticed me yet is a statement of their skill or mine, preferably mine).

"Wow, a really easy to read graph!"

My expression sours. A graph how dull! I had expected something far more noteworthy than this. My flat expression has nothing at all to do with the simple truth that I cannot discern the jumbling mess of words correctly and everything to do with how boring Kabuto's display is. He may very well be a clone of Hitoshi if he derives this much pleasure from something as unimpressive as a graph.

"Do you have cards with info on individuals?"

My ears prick at this. Naruto's moody faced teammate is staring unflinchingly at Kabuto and I re-evaluate my first estimation. Maybe he does have something of interest to say after all though considering his prior use of _eloquent _grunts I'm not holding out hope.

"Hehe…there are some guys you're worried about? Of course, the info on all of the Exam Participants isn't perfect but I do have it even on you guys. Sat something about these guys and I'll take a look," Kabuto's staring at his card deck like he's enamoured which is a rather off-putting expression for such a repulsive individual.

"Gaara of Sunagakure, Ren of Kirigakure and Rock Lee of Konohagakure," the dark-haired boy replies instantly.

Information on me? I'm hardly surprised that someone's asking considering the impressive figure I cut but still I hadn't expected the enquiry from him of all people. Maybe, I watch the boy from the corner of my eye, he is worth interest after all.

**'Ren…you said you were only concentrating on the other Jinchuriki…Isobu-boku doesn't think you should get distracted.'**

_I'm_ not. It's the boy who's asking about me. I had no interest in the boy whatsoever until he asked for information on _me_. Besides he's hardly worth enough note to distract me from my original goal just a little…side attraction. What was his damn name again? Something feminine and curly I think, though since he didn't provide any notice it's completely slipped my memory.

'**Isobu-boku thinks it was Sasuke, Uchiha Sasuke but Isobu-boku is not sure…Ren you shouldn't pay him any attention. If he's asking about information on you Isobu-boku thinks he'll be…trouble.'**

Pish Posh, we'll be fine. The boy's wearing shorts for God's sake how intimidating can a thirteen year old be in juvenile shorts such as those. Kabuto swipes three cards from the deck in an overly-dramatic but useless motion and holds them in front of his face with such a serious expression that I have to hold back the snickers. What an absolute prick! He's holding three cards. CARDS! Not the damn keys to the underworld.

"Show me," Sasuke demands (his name is Sasuke right?) and once again I'm holding back laughter.

These two take themselves far too seriously. Firstly Kabuto shows them a card for some oddball with eyebrows that look as though they've been drawn on with marker pens and two permanently surprised eyes. I couldn't be any less concerned about that one. The next card is Gaara's, the boy's cold, dead eyed expression instantly recognisable without the Kanji written above black ringed eyes and that stock of crimson hair. The card's too damn small that's why I can't make out the writing but unfortunately enough Kabuto reads it out anyway.

"Next is Gaara of the Desert. Mission History: C rank-8, B rank-1. Wow, a B rank mission as a Genin…"

Even I'll admit. That is…impressive, although I'd expect nothing less from a Jinchuriki.

"Since he's a new comer from a foreign country I don't have much info but…it seems he's returned from all his missions without even a scratch," Kabuto breathes and I almost expect him to shine a flashlight under his face for added effect.

Without a scratch? How is that even possible? He must have some form of shield since marks are to be expected especially when undertaking such high ranking missions. What could it possibly be?

**'Ren…Isobu-boku really doesn't like the sound of this Gaara, are you sure you should attack him? Maybe…Ren and Isobu-boku should just complete the exams like your uncle said…you don't need to kill the other Jinchuriki. "**

Put off? How can I be put off by information like that? Instead of the cold sweat that's collecting at the nape of Naruto's neck I feel as though I'm practically dancing on my feet. This Gaara IS strong! Fantastic! Naruto has proven that he isn't going to be much of a challenge but Gaara sounds fascinating. He could probably keep the fight going for days, it'll be magnificent! Think how much stronger I'll be by the end of it. Think how much stronger I'll have to be to put down something like that.

"The same goes for Ren of the Bloody Mist; she's a new comer and a foreign Nin so not much to go on."

My attention snaps back to the group as Kabuto points at the last card. A miniature Ren is smirking back at me, one small child-like hand tugging at the end of the liquorice whip while the other is swallowed up by the impish curl of her smirk. Damn! I look so daunting and cocksure. When exactly was that picture taken? I don't remember allowing someone to photograph me. It's most likely some twisted admirer not that I blame them even I'm tempted to stalk myself sometimes. It couldn't have been too long ago. The length of my ash-brown hair is still separated into three low ponytails, two at front and one along my spine. One side of my fringe still stood to stubborn attention while the other flattened over the edge of my eye. The collar of my blue and grey camouflage jacket was there as was the black lyrca material and the turtle skull on a chain underneath. It  
looked very recent, nothing about my appearance had changed since it's taking.

"Kirigakure tend to be especially tight-lipped and suspicious so it's even harder to get information on Kiri Nin," Kabuto prattled on.

Now I looked closely none of the information had been filled in instead sporting a scrawl of text beside my name and photo and a bold question mark over the stats.

I snorted, how insulting.

"However," Kabuto grinned like he was about to let a younger sibling in on their parent's sweet stash, "I do have some information. I hear in Kirigakure they refer to her as the 'Demon child' and she's been part of the force sent to deal with putting down clans or rebels over the past couple of years. Not to mention she also happens to be the Mizukage's daughter, though these are all just rumours so I can't guarantee-"

"Niece," I interrupt.

The rookies all whirl round to face me with varying levels of fear and hostility. Naruto appears the most hostile as he glares up at me from where he's patted onto his butt again (something that's becoming a recurring habit for him).

"Mizukage-sama's niece," I correct popping another candied ball into my mouth and eyeing them innocently, "and honestly that display was as about as effective as a fart against a tornado. "

Kabuto glowers slightly at the offense but I really couldn't care less for his pride.

"If you're going to put something on those things at least ensure it's useful especially when it comes to everyone from street cleaners to mass murders as something demonic attached to their nick-name, put in something more interesting about us." I frown tilting my head as I debate before nodding firmly as I come to a decision, "Gold. We demand that our card be printed in gold."

"W-what are you talking about?" Kabuto blusters.

"The colour," I snatch the card away and turn it over as I inspect it, "The colour is not very impressive, print our card in gold. And make it bigger than the others, more information, a pop-up picture and a lengthy and legendary beginning paragraph about the magnitude of our prestige. In fact just start over this entire operation is shoddy. And your face."

I push my face forward into his own and Hitoshi's more pathetic twin reels instinctively backwards.

"What about my face?" he frowns, re-righting his glasses.

"We don't like it, it's repulsive. Change that as well, it's making us nauseous. The cards first then your face," I demand haughtily.

Kabuto's still struggling as I'm yanked backwards. Instantly my lip curls. I've never been manhandled before in my life. Naruto's nearly snorting fire and his eyes have disappeared into the angry frown he's wearing.

"You. Can't. Keep. Creepin'. Up. Like. That!" Naruto fumes, "I fell on my ass again! It ain't funny! Kabuto-san was telling us some important stuff about the other ninja and you just ruined it!"

"Nonsense," I snort dismissively still managing to look respectable and superior despite the fact my feet are hanging just above the floor as Naruto grips the scruff of my jacket and seethes in my face.

"We were giving him feedback, if he can't take that into account he's even more of a pathetic excuse," I reply.

"You can't say stuff like that to people!" Naruto yells, "They've got feelings too! They've got dreams and they can still feel it! To just beat them down like that…it's wrong!"

I'm silent.

For once in my life I have no idea what to say. What in the hell is he talking about? And why is he so passionate about it? Very well they may have dreams but being a shinobi is not about following your dreams, it's about following orders and to cling onto childish fantasies is not only stupid but self-harming.

"Very well Uzamaki," I brush his grip away as if it's nothing.

Plopping to my feet I wipe away imaginary grease left after Naruto's hands and pull myself to my full diminutive height, "if you wish to continue believing in such laughable notions we won't stop you. I only hope however that you are capable of recognising when you're outclassed because you, all of you don't stand a chance."

The rookies are all staring at me and though some try to hide it I can see it so clearly that they may as well have abandoned the brave faces and huddled up to cry.

They were terrified.

Except Sasuke, in fact the boy who singled me out as an adversary (he wishes, he's little more than a past-time) is staring straight in the eye.

"Especially you," I address Kabuto, "your face is still an affront to nature. We have seen prettier things wedged between the wrinkled, hairy cracks of the elderly."

Kabuto balks again at the insult and paces off, muttering venomously under his breath. I smirk as I pop another sweet into my mouth and turn feeling somewhat accomplished. The voice of Naruto's pink haired teammate causes me pause.

"Hey Naruto, don't get so down…"

Spinning on my heel with my head titled like a birds with curiosity my eyes meet the hunched form of Naruto. Maybe he's finally given up? Good. This way he won't keep mouthing off at people who could possibly destroy him and instead wait there for me to get round to it instead. Much better, in fact he may even…

"MY NAME IS UZAMAKI NARUTO ! I WON'T LOSE TO YOU BASTARDS! YOU GOT THAT!?"

The force of Naruto's proclamation nearly throws me off my feet and I just manage to stay standing and staring dumbly.

That's it.

His brain has finally become Ramen and leaked out of his ears. I continue to stand there watching from the very fringes as the rest of his group gather round in a hub of noise, eye-rolls mixed in with the smiles, disapprovals equal to the silent pride. Is there something wrong with Naruto?

At the edge of it all I continue to watch him through the crowd as my hands finally stop twitching for movement.

Or is there something wrong with me?

I slink to the very back of the room again where I can't see or hear how loud and bright Uzamaki Naruto is.

**A/N: Once again sorry about how long it took to update. In regards to the previous question there won't be any romantic matches in ages but I was just curious as to whether or not you wanted Ren to get with someone and who with if you did. God imagining Ren on a date is scary...really scary.**

**Thanks for all the brilliant reviews favourites and follows, seriously everytime I'm like I don't want to continue with this fic I just read the reviews and instantly my resolve is strengthened to OVER 9,000!**

**Thanks for reading ^_^**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: I don't own Naruto only the OCs.**

**Warnings: Swearing and massive levels of cockiness from...*sigh* Ren again.**

15

I'm barely paying attention to the sudden rush of noise and movement that fills the room. Preoccupied I sit there and reflect while sucking on those hard-boiled sweets and kicking my foot rhythmically against the back of some Kumo Nin's head. There has to be something off about Naruto. He and Gaara are the only Jinchuriki that I can measure myself against as a comparison and judging from the Sand Siblings esteem of their little brother, Gaara isn't full of the same crap as Naruto. So what's the problem? I'm only embracing my nature instead of batting it away with sparkly lies. Why does Naruto make me feel…ashamed?

"Can you stop that?" the Kumo Nin snaps.

I ignore him. Completely. Raising a finger to my mouth I press it against my bottom lip and stare out at nothing. All that rot Naruto spouts, it's all garbage. I know it is. I've seen what life is really like outside this safe, sunny little place and there's no time or place for dreams and feelings. Naruto must have been dropped on his head as a child…from a great height…repeatedly.

"I said stop it!"

Please, others have feelings? When were my '_feelings_' taken into regard? When did someone spare a thought for my 'dreams' when they decided I was subhuman? The world is ugly. Accept it because people make it this way and people will never change. We've been killing each other since before we could talk to each other so why should it be any different? Standing there and shouting about absolute drivel will never make it any different. Accept it; curl up and cry or get strong enough to live through it.

"Stop it!"

I blink as the Kumo Nin rises to his feet and towers over me.

"Sit down," I frown, "we are using your head as stress release."

"You've got a lot of nerve brat, let's see how far I can smear it across the wall!" he roars.

"Firstly that made absolutely no sense, secondly are you aware of whom you're threatening? We think not because if you were you would park your gimp ass back into that chair and sit there quietly while we bounce our feet off your head," I smirk up at the Kumo Nin.

I'm seriously not in the mood and he's just interrupted my deep contemplations. I could have been setting the world to rights in this head of mine and he would have ruined it. I was doing no such thing of course but the possibility was still there.

The Kumo Nin quite obviously doesn't know who he's dealing with and instead growls in reply, reaching towards the Kunai pouch strapped to his leg.

"Quiet down you worthless bastards!"

I'm in half a mind to believe that's Naruto again but the voice is thick and deep and utterly commanding (everything Naruto's is not unless he's managed to progress through a speedy extreme puberty in those ten minutes). The Kumo Nin scampers into his seat and I lean to the side looking for the mysterious speaker with an expression of mild curiosity.

The ugliest man I have ever seen appears from the wisps of smoke, a collection of Chunin standing at the ready behind him. His head looks like a mangled grapefruit and the tacky leather coat is not helping relieve the notion that people cross the street when he's out walking. Is Konohagakure full of these oddballs? Is it compulsory for shinobi here to look like deranged, sexual deviants?

"Thanks for waiting..." he begins, his voice rumbling in his chest before it escapes his mouth.

"We were left little choice," I sigh to myself.

"I am Morino Ibiki. The Examiner for the Chunin Selection Exam's first test," one black leather gloved finger snaps out to point at a group at the other end of the room, "Oto guys, stop doing as you please before the Exam. Do you want to fail already?"

"I apologize…this is our first time…we got carried away…" the voice that replies is slick and sickly and absolutely revolting.

"Here's a good opportunity to say this," Ibiki's voice carries to every nook and cranny of the room, "there will be no fighting without permission of the Examiner. Even if permission is granted killing your opponent will not be tolerated."

"What?" I snort, raising my voice, "no killing? Do you want us to become shinobi or not? A shinobi takes lives, denying that now will not make it any less true in the future."

"Are we to suppose the second round involves tea parties and extended group hug sessions?" I smirk.

Ibiki lowers his head and looks me dead in the eye, "I don't care how they do it where you're from. Those pigs that disobey me here will be failed immediately. Do I make myself clear?"

I meet Ibiki's eyes and hold them there, the force of my being pushing against the force of his. It takes a moment for me to realise I have no authority to stand on. Here I cannot wave away orders nonchalantly; here I do not have Uncle's shadow at my back. If I want to pass these exams I'm going to have to swallow a very big and very bitter pill. Very well, I'll play nice for the moment. Too long and too outrageous and I may have to do the unthinkable. Defy Uncle's wishes. I can't imagine a stage too degrading to make me even seriously consider that.

"Very well," I shrug.

Ibiki nods once before lifting his gaze to hook over each Genin individually again, "we will now start the first test in the Chunin Exam. Instead of your current seating arrangements…"

Ibiki squats two of his fat fingers around a small wooden cube, the number one 1 embossed in thick black pen on its face, "you will pick one of these tabs and sit in the seat assigned to you. We will then hand out the exams."

I slump. Baldly has already informed me about what the test entails but still hearing it only makes to pull my guts downwards.

The truth that I've been trying so desperately to gag down rushes up my throat and wedges itself there.

I'm Ren.

Demon of the Bloody Mist.

And I can't read or write.

…

Beat-up Watermelon head is droning on and on about why he's such a hard ass and why we're all going to fail and on and on and on and on…

It's rather clear I'm not paying attention. Even if Hitoshi hadn't gave me the inside knowledge on the exam it doesn't take someone of genius level to work out that only reducing points instead of instant expulsion for cheating is rather fishy. Ibiki isn't intimidating, these sad excuses for Genin aren't intimidating and the Chunin lounged against the walls really aren't intimidating.

The words on the board are.

It's pathetic. I can rip apart a man twice my age and three times my height and yet something as pitiful as words have managed to churn up an emotion in the base of my stomach that I haven't felt in such a long time. It's anxiety.

And it comes from the strained effort I force in hopes of commanding the letters to stay in place. Still they blur, dance around each other and turn from what should be a completely simple word into absolute nonsense. Damn it! Make sense! Make sense! I will not be deterred by this. I only have to copy the words down letter for letter. Even if I can't make sense of what the scrawls mean I should be fine. Right? Wrong, the problem isn't that I can't read per say it's that I can't seem to make the letters thread into my head properly, they become tangled and unintelligible somewhere between the sheet and my brain. Well if the situation becomes desperate I'll just change my sheet when they're collecting but that's a last ditch effort.

"The Exam will last one hour. Ok…BEGIN!"

My attention immediately snaps to the sheet. First question.

.

.

.

.

.

DAMN IT! WHY CAN'T I READ!? Seriously? Seriously? This? This will be my drawback. I've never had to sit there and shift through documents, the tutors took my reluctance to study from scrolls as disinterest and I wasn't about to change their option because frankly this is…embarrassing. Toddlers can read without the words shifting about and blurring into one another. Toddlers! And here I sit in the Chunin Exams frustrated and mortified because I can't do something as simple as read a damn sentence. If it had been anything else I could have thought of at least five ways to worm my way out of this dead-end by now but the shame that I can't do something this simple is providing a very sturdy blockade.

It's disgusting.

I disgust myself.

I'm being an idiot.

Why can't I do _this_? It makes no sense! Write! Write! Write something damn you!

The pencil snaps in my hand and my breathing with it. My chest fills like it's falling down somewhere and leaving the clammy shell of my body behind. I stare blankly at the great, buzzing mess the words have become like flies in my mouth. It's too hot in here, everyone's too close. I can't breathe. What's wrong with me? I can't breathe.

What's the point of copying someone's answers if you can't read the damn words?

'…**Ren…?'**

Why can't I do this?

Why do I have such a

…Useless…

…Disgusting….

…Pitiful…

…Weakness?

The sound of pencils against paper is rising and filling my ears like water. How can maggots like them write while I can't?

**'Ren…preform the Jutsu, it's okay Isobu-boku is here.'**

"Isobu-sama?" I whisper.

"You there, in the back, something to say?" Ibiki addresses me.

I shake my head distractedly but remain focused on the sound of Isobu-sama's voice blooming out from the back of my mind. Isobu-sama? You were quiet before, what happened?

**'Isobu-boku didn't like what that other Jinchuriki said to you…Isobu-boku was…annoyed. Isobu-boku thinks saying things like that to Ren is…unfair.'**

I snort and grin, the girl seated beside me glances nervously at my expression before shuffling as far away from me in her seat as possible. I completely disregard what he says about Naruto (a subject I'd really rather not think about ever again) and focus on the snag to his previous sentence. Isobu-sama was annoyed? I don't think I've ever heard of such a thing.

'You go quiet when your annoyed Isobu-sama that's odd.'

**'…is it?'**

'Yeah, it's customary to become louder the angrier you get.'

**'….it is? Isobu-boku didn't realise.'**

'Don't worry about it; I think it's impressive that you go quiet. It's much more ominous that way.'

**'…Thank you, Ren…Isobu-boku knows you are finding this difficult…please stay calm.'**

That's simple to say when you aren't the one pouring every ounce of your focus into trying to do something as laughably simple as reading a question. I feel the frustration rear up again and clench my fingers around the still halved pencil.

**'Do the Jutsu Ren and Isobu-boku will lead you through.'**

'I can't write.'

The confession sours my insides even if only voiced it in my head. It's shameful especially from someone like me.

'**Then Isobu-boku will describe the letters…this will be fine…Ren wants to pass so Isobu-boku wants to pass too.'**

I stare blankly at the sheet for a different reason.

I have Isobu-sama so I don't need anyone else.

I've always told myself this whenever the way people recoil from me began to sting again but Isobu-sama really is _there_. Really is the only person who interacts with me without a hidden agenda. A word purposefully slips out that I have never offered to anyone besides my uncle and the demon chained inside my body.

'Isobu-sama…thank you.'

**'Ren…you should hurry, you've been sitting there glaring at your sheet for some time.'**

I nod and set about discreetly performing the seals.

"Water Release: Water Mirror Technique," I whisper.

Almost immediately something icy begins to thread its way down the fingers of my other hand and congregate in my palm. The cold water solidifies and cuts at the base of my fingers as a mirror whose surface ripples every now and then like the disturbed surface of a lake rests in my palm. Feeding in more chakra the ripples ring out once then it is still. If I was to tap my hand against the edge of the desk now there'd be a sweet metallic ting that I've come to enjoy.

It takes some time, with the mirror I can conjure being only the size of my palm. I could have stretched it larger but that's not a habit I want to nurture. The real skill comes into improving the resilience of the watery surface of the glass. Uncle is capable of producing mirrors through this technique that are so large and so strong they bat high-level Jutsus away like flies. Even if the mirrors I create are tiny I want them to be as strong as his. Isobu proves as ever that his patience can stretch out endlessly. It has been the subject of conversation before and Isobu has attempted to explain that time is different to him so it's easier to be patient. My own is another question and by the time we manage to reach the tenth question at such a crawling pace I'm about ready to implode.

Looking at the sheet with one raised brow I inspect this 'question 10'. I have no idea what it says but no answer box has been provided which in itself is odd enough to warrant pause.

**'It says you have to wait for the next question,'** Isobu supplies.

I nod as if I've known this all along. That's when something occurs to me.

'Isobu-sama, how can you read when I can't?'

**'…Isobu-boku has been with you since you were in the womb and locked inside others before you were born. Isobu-boku has been there through your lessons and first words and first steps. Isobu-boku has heard everything you've ever thought, seen everything you've seen and known everything you've felt. Isobu-boku has learnt many things through Ren.'**

I've always known this; Isobu-sama has said such things before. As a small child I would spend long hours alone in my room speaking to the ancient being (I also used to cut my hair exactly like Uncle's and toddle around in his cast-off shirts but that's beside the point).

'The other bijuu would they bother learning like you have?'

'…**Likely not…some might but some are very vicious...humans are considered weak and uninteresting.'**

'So why bother? Surely this is all very boring to you.'

**'…Isobu-boku…has been stuck in his cage a long time…there was no one there. Isobu-boku did not like it. Then there was a little human watching Isobu-boku and the little human was grinning. Isobu-boku knew the name of this human but Isobu-boku was not interested in knowing it before. The little human said hello and Isobu-boku wanted to know what the little human was grinning about…'**

I was silent. This was the most Isobu-sama had ever spoken. Even when I had asked him about where he'd come from the monologue hadn't been this lengthy. I was almost afraid to breathe lest I interrupt him and never learnt how the story ended.

**'…then,'** Isobu-sama finally continued, '**Isobu-boku was interested.'**

Something sickly and sharp is festering at the pit of my gut. I don't know this human but I hate them. To make Isobu-sama what he is means there must have been something special about them, their bond greater than ours. I don't like it. I don't like thinking about it at all. And yet Isobu-sama most definitely does.

'Did you find out what they were grinning about?' even the mental reply sounds sharp.

**'….no,' **I hadn't thought it possible for a demon's tone to sound bemused but Isobu-sama's definitely did, '**not yet…but Isobu-boku thinks the answer is a lot more difficult than before.'**

I'm almost tempted to ask what happened to them. I want to hear that they died pathetically or grew old in some fusty shack. But I don't. Maybe I'm not accustomed to admitting my emotions but with uncle and Isobu-sama there will never be question. I can't ask because I don't want to hurt Isobu. It isn't too unbelievable and it doesn't stand against my ambitions. Isobu is the voice pulling me out of the nightmares. Isobu is the one instructing me on the proper way to dress myself when as a child the arms or head would get stuck in the wrong holes. Isobu is the one listening when I finally feel the cold creeping in and the tears will not stop for want or demand.

It's not too impossible for me to care about something other than myself even if it is the demon trapped inside me.

I snort.

'Damn it Isobu-sama you're getting me all mushy and sentimental. If I become a snivelling sap, the blame will be yours,' I smirk.

**'…Isobu-boku will accept that.'**

"Ok," Ibiki's gruff, throaty voice jolts me out of the internal conversation and I glance up at him, "and now we will begin the 10th question."

"Now…before we get to it…"I stare tiredly at the man whose taking far too many pauses, "I'd like to go over the added rules for this question."

Fantastic.

"Did you have a good time with your doll?" my eyes follow Ibiki's to where Kitty is standing like a deer caught in the glare of a flashlight.

What doll? What is watermelon head drivelling on about now? I almost expect Kitty (I can't remember his real name but I'm becoming quite partial to 'Kitty') to bolt but he gulps once, straightens up and slowly makes his way over to his seat; passing his sisters far too closely for it to be innocent on the way.

"I'll now explain…," Ibiki begins again, "…The Rules of Desperation."

Dear Lord if I hear another suspenseful pause I'm going to _have to_ laugh out loud. Is he trying to get us to drop out just so we can hear speech that doesn't have every other sentence split with a dramatic moment of silence where the speaker just stands there and shadows his eyes?

"First, for this 10th question…you must decide whether you will take it or not," Ibiki goes on.

Is he honestly serious? I didn't sit through this (without my bag of sweets may I add) just so I drop out now. I snort, ridiculous. I'm staying here to the end. It will take heaven and Earth (or a distinct lack of interest) to make me drop out.

"Choose!?" Gaara's sister rages so loudly that I have no other option but to turn to regard her insulted face curiously, "What happens if we choose not to!?"

"If you choose not to, your points will be reduced to zero…you fail! Along with your two teammates," Ibiki answers.

Teammates? I hunt around the room for the two nondescript shadows Uncle has strapped to me. If they know what's good for them they'll continue to be nothing more than an element needed to meet stipulations. Though, knowing Uncle, I have no worries in that department. They'll do as they've been ordered and they'll keep as characterless as they have been thus far throughout.

I'm mulling this over, completely unaffected by the shouts and accusations being thrown about the room. This is the first time I've bothered to actually acknowledge the two blank bodies. Is their blandness the reason behind Uncle's decision? And they've managed to move through this first stage with no trouble, they don't seem to be scared of me either. Curious. Though not curious enough to keep my attention longer than that passing inquiry.

"But I am giving you a way out," Ibiki's still soldiering on, "those that aren't confident can choose not to take it…and try again next year."

Please, come back to this hellhole? Not an option. No one has any real idea of who I am here and the people…the people are confusing. Even if I was wavering at this point, failure is not an option when I have to return to Uncle. I lean back in my chair and level an amused smirk at Ibiki. I come from Kirigakure; scare tactics like this are nothing.

"Now let's begin…the 10th question. Those that do not wish to take this, raise your hand. Once your number is confirmed, leave."

Silence.

I cross my arms on my desk and rest my head in the crook. They'll begin weeding out soon so I may as well be comfortable while I wait. My eyes are still stinging and my head throbs dully now and then after my earlier struggle with the illusive sentences.

A minute in and the first few teams bow out.

Another and another two teams are gone.

This is dull, these Genin crack too easily under pressure. My eyes begin to wander of their own violation and finally rest on the unmoveable shape of Gaara of the Sands. Not even a blink. Gaara's eyes so like the glassy orbs of a doll are still pinned forward, frozen in that cold, controlled state. I tilted my head with bird-like curiosity. Now that I looked closely at the Jinchuriki his own head seemed…really round. In fact most of his features were deceptively cherubic and infantile. Even his body was smaller than those of someone his age (maybe a year older than me if I had to guess though it's difficult with his child-like appearance). The eyes ruined it (if 'ruined' was the correct term). Any endearing maternal affections that could have been dredged up by Gaara's innocent face were cut dead by the harsh shape of those black-ringed eyes.

Turning to the small reflective mirror in my hand I looked from Gaara's face to my own. The effect was not dissimilar. Small, sweet face paired with unnerving eyes. Odd. The same could be said for Naruto in a manner of speaking. Although Naruto's features weren't as rounded and child-like as Gaara's and my own, they were still innocent enough bar for the startling intensity of those blue eyes. Peering even closer at Gaara's face and having to shuffle to the edge of my seat to do so I evaluated this realisation. So, maybe there was something about the other Jinchuriki that I echoed even if it was such a tiny thing.

'**Ren…he's looking at you.'**

Isobu-sama's voice snapped me out of my contemplations. I glanced up at Ibiki excepting the boulder of a man to be the one frowning disapprovingly but he was still ram-rod straight and waiting out the departure of the surrendering teams. Then I felt the gaze Isobu-sama had been referring to almost like a physical weight pressed against the side of my face.

Swerving my head round again I met the eyes of Gaara. His face showed no surprise or irritation at my earlier inspection. In fact it showed nothing at all. It was far too easy to imagine that face painted into the wooden skull of a puppet, wrapped up in its own strings and left in some entertainer's basement. What a sad, little doll. The wave of thick alien emotion that rose up at the thought was promptly silenced and instead I replied to Gaara's attention with a grin and a little wave of fingers.

He was still staring at me.

I should have been used to people staring at me by now. Admittedly the people of Kirigakure weren't as open as Gaara was being about it lest I lose control and slaughter them all but even from behind their curtains and hands I could feel the eyes on my back. What was perplexing about Gaara's staring however was not the act itself but the outward complete lack of response to whatever he was seeing. There was a small moment of triumph when he did eventually blink; very slowly and very deliberately as if he was trying to lengthen the process and thus not have to bother blinking again for a while. My mischievous smirk itched up further as I found myself repeating the motion in exactly the same manner Gaara had done. Gaara stared back, completely unaffected by the childish copy-cat motion.

"DON'T UNDERESTIMATE ME! I WILL NOT RUN!"

I sighed, loudly. There's only one person who can be so damn loud. Rolling my head towards the front again I snort as Naruto makes yet another spectacle of himself.

"I'll take it! Even if I'm a Genin forever! I'll will myself to becoming Hokage anyway, so I don't care!"

This about being Hokage again.

A weapon cannot become a Kage, it seems impossible. Why in the world would they place so many lives on the backs of something they've created specifically to take them? It would help considerably if Naruto didn't always sound so confident of it himself. It was like he believed, truly believed that if enough faith was shoved into his words they would eventually become a reality.

I wasn't sure if I was eager for the moment the world decided to slap Naruto down or dreading it. He couldn't have so much conviction if it hadn't already. It was impossible.

"I am not afraid!" Naruto finishes and throws himself back into his seat where he snorts furiously like a bull.

My eyes widen. Not..afraid?

'**…Ren?'**

Not afraid? That's…that's not…

My hand starts twitching again.

"I'll ask you again," Ibiki cracks the ice that's pushed its fingers in and held my brain in a lock, "Your life is riding on this decision. This is your last chance to quit."

"I follow my unbending words…" Naruto lowers his head and for an instant it's easy to believe that there is a demon burning behind the fire in his eyes, "that's my ninja way.."

.

.

.

What the flying fuck is a Ninja Way? I start snickering to myself despite my best efforts. Do you need a map for it? These Konohagakure Nin had the oddest tendencies; especially when it came to fashion sense and verbal twitches.

"Good decisions. Now to everyone still remaining…"

Actually glancing around there was far more left after Naruto's speech than I had been expecting.

"I congratulate you on passing the first test!"

Naturally, I smirked and lifted my head. On a side note melon-head should never attempt smiling again.

"That was so easy it was almost insulting," I mummer smugly.

**'…Ren, Isobu-boku doesn't mean to be insulting but…maybe you found that more difficult that you'd like to admit…'**

"Of course not," I whisper in reply, completely glossing over the fact that had Isobu-sama not helped me I would not have passed this first test, "this was meant to be the most difficult stage for us and we passed it with ease. The other stages are just killing and surviving; we may as well nap through them."

The room has erupted into chatter again but I pay little heed as I converse with Isobu-sama.

**'….just try not to get too cocky Ren…that is how mistakes are made.'**

"We can afford mistakes if we like," I shrug, "when our level is compared to the level of the others, this will be as simple as picking wings off flies."

My expression sours, "Which happens to be a disgusting habit. Flies are no threat; torturing them in such a manner shows a very poor and boring character."

"Isobu-sama we need a better simile than wings off flies," I nod my head resolutely, "suggestions?"

'**….hrmm…how about…legs off felines?'**

"No, that's too close to wings off flies. We need one where we aren't tearing limbs from animals," I tilt my head in thought, "this is difficult, nearly every example has sadistic undertones."

'**…Ren, you ****are**** talking about crushing your opponents…'**

"That hardly matters," I sniff then grin victoriously, "A-ha!"

Clearing my throat I pull myself straighter in my seat, "when our level is compared to the level of the others, this will be like taking candy from its wrapper."

'**…..'**

"Well," I smirk with real self-importance, "what do you think Isobu-sama, pretty poetic yes?"

**'….Ren…why does everything good come back to sweets?'**

My proud expression sours and I open my mouth to argue before pausing.

Isobu-sama may (or may not) have a point there.

Tilting my head up and wiping imaginary grime off my sleeves I finally design to answer, "Because sweets are delicious and we love them."

More shouting and movement but I was hardly concerned. These Genin are so loud that most likely the immediate problem was that Naruto had spotted a mouse and was trying to capture it with his bare hands while his dark-haired teammate squealed like a little girl and jostled about on his desk. Besides anything Isobu-sama had to say was likely far more entertaining than what everyone else was doing (though the profuse sweating and terrified glances of the guy sitting next to me _was_ entertaining).

"That reminds me, where are our sweets?" I frown.

'**….aren't they in your kunai pouch?'**

"That's our emergency supply. We cannot afford to begin digging into that without proper incentive. We seem to have a habit of leaving sweets in the most unusual of places and that diminishes our supply."

**'Ren, sticking the sweets to other people's faces does not count as 'leaving them in usual places'…maybe you should stop doing that?'**

"Maybe."

'…**Isobu-boku can hear your thoughts Ren.'**

"Ah, well then it was a definite no. I enjoy that hobby."

**'….Isobu-boku does not think that counts as a hobby….'**

**'Ren.'**

"Yes?"

**'Everyone has left.'**

Finally paying my surrounding some attention I discover that we are indeed sitting alone in a now empty classroom bar the trench coated man who is staring directly at us.

Before I can even open my mouth Ibiki has cut in, "down the corridor, turn left and follow the group from there."

Standing I smirk once at him before taking off in pursuit of the others.

….

Mormino Ibiki remains where he stands for a moment as the thirteen year old (though she looks closer to ten) disappears round the corner.

His eyes move back to the desk where her snapped pencil is still left discarded atop her sheet; a sheet with the spidery writing of a four year old rather than a prospective Chunin.

This is not the thing tugging at Ibiki.

What are are the two questions that instantly spring out of the folds when he had spotted her murmuring away to herself and oblivious to Anko's introduction.

Who was she speaking to?

And what was replying to her questions?

**A/N:**

**Okay so this week's update, hopefully longer now that I'm trying to get into the habit of updating weekly.**

**Did anyone guess what Ren's problem while reading it? She's got dyslexia, something I personally have never experienced but my dad's got it really bad and it caused real problems for him when he was at school. I'm not sure why I gave her dyslexia I just thought it might make a change for the first test to be extremely difficult for Ren rather than the others and I guess I just saw Yagura being the type of person who really wouldn't bother helping her with it because it wouldn't effect her usefulness as a weapon. **

**Thanks again for all the reviews it's really rewarding to read how involved you are with Ren and how you actually care about what happens to her. It really makes my day :D**

**On the subject of Ren's pairing there'll be nothing for ages because at the moment Ren's...well, more than a little twisted so I think if she went out for dinner with someone she's probably more likely to eat her date than whatever she ordered. Thanks for the suggestions though (I seriously had never thought of Naruto for some reason). I'll consider all the options and I know now at least that you aren't against their being a Ren/somebody pairing.**

**To answer Evalyd Yamazaki's question, I really don't know where I get Ren's insults from XD I sit there after writing them and I'm like 'am I actually a really horrible person?' Especially because in real life I'd rather get the crap kicked out of me than insult someone like that. It might be my complete aversion to any form of confrontation or it could have something to do with being British XD**

**Maybe my evil side is coming out in this fic 0.0 scary thought.**

**THANKS FOR READING!**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: I don't own Naruto only the OCs.**

16

Hashimoto Hitoshi wipes the blood from his hands.

It was true test of his skill managing to avoid detection but the two Genin accompanying Ren were easy enough to comply when they received the signal. This could have been aided of course by their ever-present anticipation to receive the orders that would have them cutting at Ren's neck. The other is still unfortunately conscious and glaring at him as he packs the first's body into a scroll.

"Mizukage-sama will have your head for this," the Genin whispers. How his voice can remain so still after losing the amount of blood he has is an admirable feat on itself.

Hitoshi sighs however.

"You may be too brain washed by now to understand," Hitoshi removes his glasses and wipes them with a fresh cloth as he speaks, "but I am simply avoiding a war. If Konohagakure falls every hidden village will be fighting over the scraps. Knowing the Mizukage's lust for power it's not difficult to discern that we will be one of those crabs on the carcass."

"You were given orders," the Genin continues, "attack the Jinchuriki, release Three Tails. Konohagakure falls."

"Unfortunately _you_ were the one given orders. _I_ was asked to do nothing but oversee Ren-san's safety, an objective you and your companion were openly threatening," Hitoshi carefully places his glasses back on the lumped bridge of his nose, "are you aware of how an action ripples? No, of course not you merely follow orders. With what will soon be an attack from Sunagakure and Otogakure-"

The Genin's eyes flicker wide with surprise at this but Hitoshi continues regardless. Usually he is beyond careful about what he says lest anyone discover that he's in possession of more information about the future than he should rightly be. At the moment it matters little, the Genin will be dead in a few moments and Aito (the only other occupant of the room) is as much a traveller as he is.

"Konohagakure would be too weak to also deal with a rampaging Jinchuriki without there being mass causalities. Konohagakure falls and we lose key players, losing these commodities will only lead to our downfall in the future war. I was set on determining from the outset that you fail. There was no other way," Hitoshi flips another scalpel from the belt attached to his waist.

"I apologise but you must be another piece sacrificed. At least be safe in the knowledge that your death now delivers you from any punishment the Mizukage would have ordered upon learning of your failure."

It's quick and clean and when Hitoshi is done he cleans the now sullied scalpel on the same cloth he used for his glasses.

When standing he turns to Aito who has resumed the form of the other Genin and nods.

Hitohi and Aito meet with the rest of the group and Hitoshi pats the pocket bulging with brown paper bags full of assorted sweets. It would not do for Ren to endure the Forest of Death without something to sweeten the deal.

Especially if he wants her to comply with what he's going to ask of her.

…..

I had underestimated Konohagakure.

I couldn't escape this notion as I stared up at the thick colossus trunks, vines three times the weight and width of my skinny arms threaded through the bulk of branches and scraggy leaves. Konohagakure had seemed a place of sunshine and greens. Here though there were shadows creeping out from the tangle of twinning roots that burrowed beneath the earth then rose up to coil about each other under blankets of thick moss.

The place stank of damp earth, a scent I had come to affiliate with the scarce sickly trees of Kirigakure. Even the thin veil of mist I could see peeking out between the dark of the forest hit me with a sense of foreboding.

I only then realised that I was yet to be afraid in Konohagakure. I'd been frustrated and confused but not afraid. Konohagakure seemed so very far away from the silent shadow theatre I'd grown in. It was full of noise and smiles and people with burning in their words like Naruto. The similarities between the forest and the streets of Kirigakure instilled something I had unwittingly thinned since arriving here.

Fear.

I could smell it on my sweat. I was not so scared anymore in Kirigakure; I fully believed that logically I had no reason to be. Yet still something about the place had the tendency to worm its way into your lungs and still your breath.

How could stupid, sunny little Konohagakure even have an ounce of that Kiri tombstone silence hidden beneath the canopies of leaves? I glanced at the Konoha Genin with new expectations. Uncle's careful handling and desire to display our strength to the Nin hidden among the leaves suddenly made some sense. I still didn't think they'd be a challenge but_ maybe_ Isobu-sama was correct in advising me not to allow too much slack.

"Remind you of home Ren-san?"

Scowling and throwing my nose up haughtily I turned to the one person who would address me in such a way. Impudent fool.

Hitoshi no longer looked like Hitoshi, instead it was Hitoshi's mannerisms speaking through one of the unidentifiable Genin that Uncle had requested accompany me. I paid this no heed, it mattered very little to me what Hitoshi did and did not do and the state of the Genin he was impersonating (with ease, even I'll admit…grudgingly) was of even less interest.

What had created the sour expression however was his question. Hitoshi saw too much; it was one of the many, _many_ things about the man that made him so detestable.

"Of course not," I snorted, "we were merely debating how many of these Genin will be devoured by big, beautiful butterflies or succumb to nettle bites."

"That seems rather dismissive," Hitoshi's thin lips pulled into that horrible fake smile, "they may surprise you."

"We seriously doubt it," I wiped invisible lint from the shoulder of my jacket.

"Actually Ren-san I have a favour to ask of you," Hitoshi resettled his features into something close to pleading.

"No," I smirked, "whatever it is the answer is no. You must be delusional if you even thought we'd listen to your offer."

"Yes that was the reaction I was expecting," Hitoshi sighed then slipped a hand into his pocket, "so I thought some leverage may persuade you otherwise."

There was a familiar rustle of thin brown paper and I swear I felt my ears prick like a dog's.

"Leverage?" I cocked my head.

"Yes, leverage," Hitoshi smiled, "of the confectionary variety."

I only had my emergency stock left and that wasn't as bulky as it had been after ten minutes of waiting and being shepherded along with the group. The thought of something sweet or sour or tangy rolling around my taste buds made me pause. Maybe I could listen to Hitoshi's little proposal.

"I thought that might get your attention," Hitoshi chuckled as if we were old friends (we most certainly not; I'd be more upset if my toothbrush expired than if Hitoshi did), "it's nothing strenuous for you I assure you, merely keeping a team of Genin at bay."

"How many bags?" I turned to Hitoshi and held my hand out expectantly.

"Three, I'll give you one now and two after," Hitoshi replied in a business-like tone.

"Unacceptable, we-"

"There is something further, something I believe will be of interest to you," Hitoshi interrupted.

I had to control the urge to slap the man for having the nerve to interrupt my speech but what he had said caught my attention. What could he possibly know that would be of interest to _me_? It had better be good or I was bald-slapping him so hard his head would look like a plate when I finished.

"It concerns Uzumaki Naruto. This team will be gunning for Uchiha Sasuke, a teammate of Uzumaki-san and you and I both know that his nature will not allow him to let a teammate to be harmed," Hitoshi paused to stare at me, "he will do everything in his power to protect his teammates including putting himself directly in harm's way."

"What makes you think Uzumaki is of any interest to us?" I scowled, "and give us our damn sweets."

"I will in a moment," Hitoshi replied ignoring my previous question with a knowing smirk, "do we have a deal?"

I frowned. I really did want those sweets and killing off a team of Genin was hardly worth any effort. Naruto had nothing to do with my decision, I was just hungry. The only snag was the premise that in agreeing to Hitoshi's terms the man would believe that he had somehow gained the right to order me around. Then again if Hitoshi did get any ideas of that nature it would be simple enough to remind him of who exactly he was dealing with.

"We have a deal," I nodded then instantly scurried round to dig through his pocket like a fox through an overturned bin.

"A-ha!" I exclaimed triumphantly when my fingers closed around the bulging bag of sweets.

Popping multiple toffees in my mouth at once my expression changed to that of a contented house-cat. Honestly I don't know how long I could have stayed on task if I'd kept thinking about my lack of sweets.

"Welcome to the stage for the second test, Practice Arena 44 also known as…'The Forest of Death'!" the inappropriately clad woman who had lead us here began.

Fortunately she didn't seem to share her co-worker's severe penchant for dramatic pauses; unfortunately it was proving difficult to look at her face while she spoke. I had no idea what the woman looked like facially since the majority of time I actually deigned myself to glance in her direction was spent anticipating with terrible glee for her chest to slip out and embarrass herself.

"You'll soon find out why it's called the 'Forest of Death'," I'm _sure_ that would have been very intimidating had I not been frowning at her bust.

Hitoshi it seemed was having a similar problem, the man kept fidgeting it was becoming annoying.

"Stop," I scowled, "squirming about like a worm on a hook."

"I," Hitoshi began then cleared his throat while his cheeks bloomed the most unusual colour, "I apologise Ren-san."

I sighed and held out my palm. Hitoshi blinked down at it before raising his eyes to me and quirking a brow.

"Compensation," I smirked.

Hitoshi hunted around in his pockets (with me keeping a steady eye on which pockets lest he fall asleep later and I'll be free to raid) before handing out a fistful of bonbons.

Nodding with my smirk growing I instantly deposited them into the bag. Hitoshi did have his uses then after all.

"'You'll soon find out why it's called the Forest of Death'" Naruto's voice was instantly recognisable even though it was currently in a whiny, mocking tone.

I think I may be developing a Naruto pitch detector. I hope not. That could be very…worrying.

"You think that scares me!? That's nothing! I'm not afraid," Naruto shouted, jabbing a finger defiantly at the woman.

Her replying smile instantly caused my foot to shift. I had seen that smile many times reflected back at me from a mirror and it tended to correlate with blood lust.

My eyes hardened. This woman was not allowed to harm Naruto. I would be the one to kill him. No one else was permitted to snuff the loud, blare of his light out. No one.

My foot shifted again and before I knew what I was doing and why I found myself weaving in and out of the assembled Genin.

"Yeah," the woman's close-eyed smile grew, "you're spirited."

I was breathing down Naruto's neck, trying not to inhale the heavy scent of sweat and Ramen. My eyes never moved from the woman.

The blur of movement is expected, my arm raises as Naruto fumbles back a single step and his back compounds with my chest. My arm comes up and jerks his head roughly away but not fast enough to spare the length of my forearm from the kunai's path. I feel the skin part like butter under its edge and feel the widening of Naruto's eyes against the inside of the arm that is thrown stiffly across his face.

Something warm and hard presses against my back. An arm snakes forward and grips Naruto's waist while the other locks my arm into place. I try not to gag on the claustrophobic sensation of having two people wedge me in. I'm not accustomed to it and the internal squirming states as much.

"A little friend," the woman purrs and I can feel the shape of her grin against my head, "how adorable."

"Back off," I growl.

The repulsion and loathing is nothing new. I tend to feel very much the same for every human. However the line is. This is usually where I make some mocking jab at her character or physical appearance but it is absent and left in its place his something hard and serious.

Naruto's heart is pounding through the skin and muscle of his back and something about the notion that this woman could have crushed it, could have brought it to an abrupt and unsatisfying finale causes a prickling through every nerve. Naruto dies by **my** hand; I won't allow anyone else to take what I spared. It's my right. On it spills like a mantra and underneath the drumbeat breathes a whispered lull, I will not be the only demon, I can't.

"Rin-san?" Naruto breathes, his shock and confusion evident by the fact he isn't blaring down my ear drum for a change.

"Kids like you…" the woman leans in towards Naruto's ear despite the low snarl that careens from my throat, "..are quickly killed when you haven't got your buddies to watch your back…hehehe."

"And kids like you," her attention turns to me and I stiffen as she leans towards the long, shallow gash that mars the tight black material covering my arms, "spray that red blood I love especially when you do something stupid like this…"

I round my shoulders and try to jerk my arm away from the sickly sensation of her tongue lapping at my blood and the vice-like fingers curled around my wrist.

"Touch us again and I'll rip out your innards," I seethe, sharply jerking my arm away again but the woman only chuckles.

Naruto grunts slightly as the motion causes his head to slam against my arm but at the moment I couldn't care less. I'm currently being degraded and molested by some absolute nut-case all because Naruto couldn't keep his mouth shut for five minutes! This is exactly what I was frustrated about before. He should have a little more consideration and sit there and wait until I got round to killing him instead of shooting off at everything and everyone that could be potentially dangerous.

Idiotic, loud-mouthed, ridiculous boy!

At least have the skill to look after yourself if you're going to act in such a manner! Scowling I struggle in the woman's grip again and receive a twisted sense of satisfaction as Naruto's head roughly smacks against my arm.

The woman suddenly moves and I had been paying so much attention to keeping her as far away from Naruto's skin as possible in this tiny space she's granted that I failed to notice the shape looming over us. Jerking my head up (which is difficult considering both Naruto and the woman are taller than me) I narrow my eyes at the blotty shadow of a kasa against the sun.

"Your kunai," the voice makes my stomach roll; it's the verbal equivalent of Hitoshi's sickly faux smile.

"Why thank you," the woman chirps as if she's a sweet, little school girl instead of a grown woman that's just confessed that she likes the taste of children's blood.

She releases us and I instantly slide away dragging a still shell-shocked Naruto with me before violently pushing him to the floor. I ignore the furrowed brows and wide, blue eyes that latch onto me in absolute bewilderment as I try to brush off the stink from my body. I feel dirty. I can feel the woman's tongue on my arm, hear the other thing's voice in my ear and it's vile. No one has dared degrade me like that, no one but Uncle. Uncle has every right though, Uncle made me, he is my creator and he can do what he likes with his creations, I will never argue. But her and that thing! They can't touch me like that.

"Rin-san?" Naruto is still staring at me like I've just dropped out of the sky.

"Ren," I snap, "It's Ren, you brain-dead bumbling piece of crap!"

Naruto blinks and I'm expecting the immediate flaring of temper that I've observed before but still he appears too shocked to counter. It's disappointing because right now what I really need is his condemnation. I need to pretend that there hadn't been a moment of most ludicrous panic when that woman had tossed the kunai. I need to feel the old familiar role snap around me without notions of disappointment and suffocation under its mantle. I need to be grounded. Nothing can shake lose or I'm terrified that everything will fall apart without something confining it into place.

"Stop staring," I snort dismissively, "you look mentally disabled."

I look back at the open mouth and wide blue eyes and my fists shake. That. I allowed myself to bleed for _that_! No, Naruto himself isn't important at all; he's just the covering to what is. The demon locked inside him is the only thing that matters. And yet I can't rip it out of him. I can't see it like I can see Isobu-sama every time I catch my face reflected in the eyes of others. It's not right! How can it not be there! How can he sit there bold and loud and so damn unashamed when I and Gaara (I suspect) are being crushed under the weight of our titles? I couldn't kill him because he wasn't the demon and yet I wanted to because of that same reason.

He was an exception to a rule that had defined my existence.

That demons cannot be human beings, that we can never be anything more than this. And Naruto was there defying it. We weren't human. We couldn't be. Because if we were…then…

"Naruto," the black haired boy had carefully positioned himself between me and the boy I was snarling at.

Sasuke Uchiha stands there, hands shoved in his pockets and eyes locked on mine. They're too sharp, too dark and he does not blink just watches me in the same manner someone watches a crouched predator. Uchiha Sasuke. Although not of my kind he may know more of it than Naruto does. He's seen the dark and I can see it now mirrored back at me.

The quick glare of warning he sent my way settled everything that had threatened to shake free. It was a clear threat. A show that I was not welcome here among the others and despite what would be an expected reaction from such a cold-eyed glare it did a lot more to soothe me than Naruto's ever had.

I smirked, finally feeling myself slip back into my skin, and turned away to return to my place.

"Ren-san, are you feeling well?" Hitoshi instantly questioned "that action wasn't like you."

"Be quiet baldly," I smirked, "your voice makes our stomach roll."

I still didn't feel entirely stable but away from Naruto's presence it was easier to quiet the chorus of questions that had rose up like a crescendo when Naruto had been sat there staring at me. Stuffing a bonbon in my mouth I glared at the woman. I didn't generally bother looking for a fight despite my enjoyment at actually participating in one. The woman threw me a smirk and licked her lips when she registered my eyes on her. But for her I may make an exception.

"Looks like we have a lot of blood-thirsty ones in this test. Hehehe, this should be fun," the woman smiled, "Now before we start the Second Test there's something I have to pass out."

Her hands reached into her thick, tan coat and a great wad of paper was pulled out.

"You must sign these agreement forms," her face broke into a huge, blushing grin, "there will be deaths in this one…and if I don't have you sign these it will all be my responsibility, hehe."

I snort and turn my head dismissively.

Despite what the woman's gaze is suggesting it's certain that I won't be counted among that roll call. No matter how the forest manages to remind of Kirigakure it isn't the Bloody Mist, if I can survive there I'm confident I can survive anywhere. This'll be a walk in the park.

"I'm going to explain the second test, then you can sign it afterwards. Then each team will check in at the booth behind me," my eyes turned towards a rustic shack, three Chunin lazing around at their place under it.

"Are you ready Ren-san," Hitoshi smiles.

"Aww baldy your lack of faith is hurtful," I smirk, "don't you dare worry about us, we won't worry about you. All you need to do is keep those sweets handy."

Hitoshi just continues to watch me for a moment before slowly he smiles, "Ren-san I have to admit your confidence in your abilities is sometimes reassuring."

"It isn't meant to be," I reply darkly my eyes locked onto the foreign hoots of the Forest of Death.

….

The birds were disturbed by seemingly nothing in the twilight that falls on the forest. After the rush of feathers and calls all is silent again. I watch the wickerwork of shadowed branches overhead, the odd view of evening colours pulling through.

It's almost peaceful in the deep of the forest.

"Ren-san."

Turning my head to the side I find Hitoshi standing at attention.

"Yes?"

"We have a Heaven Scroll; it would be in our best interests to secure an Earth Scroll immediately. Have you any suggestions?" Hitoshi fiddles with his glasses as he speaks, pulling them up to linger on the bumpy ridge of his thin nose.

I make no immediate reply. I don't intend to target the rookies, there's no challenge there. My inclination is swinging towards the more veteran teams who have failed this test numerous times. If they haven't passed it by now they don't deserve to. The forest hasn't proved too threatening so far. The few poisonous creatures, the few harmful plants but considering Hitoshi's vast knowledge of poisons and the flora and fauna his extensive collection are harvested from both have proved little trouble. There has been no contact with the other Genin Teams thus far though that could be due to the unrelenting speed we've been travelling at.

The man beside Hitoshi doesn't seem winded in the least although I had had to tap into Isobu-sama's chakra reserves to match and exceed Hitoshi's brutal pace. So who exactly is it behind that mask?

I snort and shake my head.

It matters little. Behind the curtains of thick, wet moss and fat tree trunks there are more than thirty teams out there baying for my blood. I haven't got the time or patience to sit here mulling over things that do not take priority at the moment. Heh, I stand and brush myself down with a smirk, this almost reminds me of home.

Let the blood hounds come. Let them crash down on me in waves. It doesn't matter. I will be standing atop the chaos just like Uncle, just like he wants. There will be no more questioning. No more shaking hands.

"We've been feeling itchy since we got here," I turn to Hitoshi though my head remains lowered over my wicked smirk, "point us at them Baldy, we'll get your scroll."

"My gratitude Ren-san," Hitoshi smiles.

...

"Are you finished?"

Ren does not answer Hitoshi verbally just reaches for the Earth scroll tied about her back and flings it into his waiting hands. She continues and eventually seats herself against the massive trunk of a nearby tree.

Hitoshi says nothing about the blood that covers her face and arms.

He says nothing about the expression that has set her features.

Ren has been gone for three hours, an hour is more than enough time for her to locate and exterminate a team based on what Hitoshi knows of her skill and the skill of the Genins. He's tempted to ask what exactly it is that Ren was preoccupied with in those two hours. Hitoshi knows she will not answer even if he asked but it is something else that holds his tongue. He truly does not wish to hear what Ren has to say. Hitoshi's hands wrap around the scroll and then ghost over the three blooded Iwa headbands holding the roll of paper together. Aito in the form of the other Genin is trailing his eyes between the blood smeared metal plates of the headbands and the hunched form of the now sleeping Ren with open disgust. Hitoshi almost wants to hate him for the baleful eyes he levels at the sleeping girl; he almost wants to scream at Aito to 'stop fucking staring at her like that, everyone's always staring at her like that just let her sleep'. But Hitoshi doesn't, he doesn't say a word in Ren's defence and he never has despite the front row seat he's been given to the gaping hole Kirigakure has been digging into the little girl.

He has spent a long time planning and predicting and moving those little carved pieces about his board. He asked her to do this. She is **always** being asked to do this.

So then why does he feel so guilty about using her as the weapon she professes to be?

It is due to one emotion that a shinobi cannot afford to indulge. Guilt. Because, Hitoshi knows that it's so wrong of him and the others to expect anything more from her than a killer when all they ever do is utilize her as one. Hitoshi secrets the scroll away with the other one and silently prays that Naruto will be able to catch her before she falls too deeply.

If she already hasn't.

….

"If you intended for us to head back why, dear teacher with your great shining head like the shaved backside of a gigantic chicken, did you make us travel so far yesterday?"

"I apologise Ren-san," Hitoshi smiles but he hasn't really answered anything.

I shrug and rummage around in my bag for another of those caramel cubes that are coated in dark chocolate, humming tunelessly as I go. At the moment I can't bring myself to be irritated with Hitoshi especially when I know he's holding even more sweets on ransom and I've managed to wheedle another bag out of him for 'compensation'.

We're heading towards the outer edges of the Forest, travelling while shrouded in Kirigakure's infamous technique 'Hiding in the Mist' to avoid any unwanted attention and I have to commend Hitoshi's ability at least for supplying the thick screen without any available water sources. Trust Naruto to be only this far in after a day, I snort. How in the world the boy's survived for this long is either an insane amount of luck or that special brand of stupidity that is just so moronic that passes into genius. I'm siding with insane luck though.

My foot pauses as something catches my eye. What' this? I lean down and frown on closer inspection. Traps, intelligent but rudimentary nonetheless. Slowly pulling myself up, I allow my eyes to dart around for the person responsible. At times like this I wish I had some sensory techniques but considering my enemies tend to seek me out and as a result my combat style has developed to be somewhat…head-on.

"Is this what we are looking for?" I tilt my head back at Hitoshi who is already dispelling the mist.

Hitoshi smiles and nods, "Yes, well done Ren-san."

I snort, "Baldy please for the love of everything holy…stop brown nosing. It's demeaning for us."

Ignoring Hitoshi's 'as you wish Ren-san' I straighten up and stare out at the scene we've slipped ourselves into. Underneath a shelter of huge, twisting roots are the shapes of three bodies. Light is beginning to creep in from the edges and run dappled patterns over the moss and vine. In the dawning light I can make out the one shape toiling and shuffling around two stationary ones.

"Is Uzumaki there?" the question pushes its way through my lips before I even realise it had voiced in my head.

"He is indeed," Hitoshi answers though the man seems distracted with sliding vials in and out of the bulky medical pouch tied around his thin waist, "the entire of Team 7 is there though two of its members are currently incapacitated. The third, Haruno Sakura, is the one responsible for the traps and is now tending to her teammates."

"I see."

I stand there watching the little shadow of what Hitoshi has identified as Haruno Sakura flit around in the blooming light of morning. Despite the location, despite the heavy, iron scent of blood and the mist that is still drawing its fingers back from around our feet something about the scene is..cosy. The circumstances and situations are completely different but I cannot help but feel a sense of dull déjà vu. Memories of watching fire-lit family scenes through the glass of windows as I remain hunched out in the rain submerge.

"What do you need us to do?" I ask, tearing about a liquorice whip as I do so.

"Uchiha Sasuke is currently suffering from a curse mark that will convince him to leave Konohagakure. I intend to treat the mark to the best of my abilities. Unfortunately this will occupy all of mine and Aito-chan's attention. I would be grateful if you could deal with the team of Oto Nin while I am preoccupied," Hitoshi answers.

"You want a team dead?" I shrug, "Rather boring but very well."

"No, not dead. Just keep them away but please try not to kill them, they need to report back to their master which perfectly brings us to another factor," Hitoshi continues, "I would be most grateful if you could ensure that these Oto Nin are remain unaware of my efforts."

"How grateful?" I frown.

"Another two bags grateful," Hitoshi smiles and swipes two more bulging brown bags out of seemingly nowhere.

"Very well," I sniff after snatching the bags from his hands of course, "we agree to your terms."

Hitoshi nods then alarming both me and the other fake Genin steps into the clearing with a wide, friendly smile and two cheerfully waving arms.

"Sakura-san!" Hitoshi calls.

"Baldly you fool!" I squawk incredulously.

The little shape pauses and stiffens, her head snapping round to the well-meaning, idiot Hitoshi is playing.

"W-who are you?" she stutters, "how do you know my name?"

"Ah Sakura-san, please don't be so mistrustful. Me and my team-"

I snort at the insinuation that Hitoshi is in anyway the leader of me.

"-we mean you no harm," Hitoshi continues regardless, "we have come to your aid."

"M-my aid?" Sakura's face grows slack with shock before she shakily rises to her feet and holds a kunai in a defensive position while keeping her eyes locked onto Hitoshi.

"Get away, stay back!" Sakura demands.

I blink. Well, I certainly hadn't been expecting that. The frivolous little girl with the bizarre mental disease that most of the Konohagakure female Genin I had witnessed seem to suffer from was so obviously terrified. And yet she was meeting Hitoshi's eyes despite the violent shaking in her legs.

"Your friend, Uchiha Sasuke, he is injured," Hitoshi's amicable expression dries up instantly, "if I don't treat him now, the effects of the seal will spread. I don't want to hurt you but I'm not against rendering you unconscious if need be."

Sakura's expression softened became hard then softened again. She flinched as Hitoshi carefully reached out and gently, as if he were touching an injured bird's wing, laid his hand on her shoulder.

"Sakura-san, you can trust me. I have your best interests at heart," Hitoshi spoke calmly.

I watched as Sakura's resolve visibly crumpled and she turned to Hitoshi like a drowning man turns to a fishing boat.

"O-okay," Sakura whispered.

"Good girl," Hitoshi's friendly smile made reappearance, "now me and Aito-chan are going to have to disturb your little shelter okay? Don't worry no one will see us or Naruto-san and Sasuke-san in here since Aito-chan is rather handy with Genjutsu."

The other fake Genin just grunted and nodded his head once in confirmation.

"What do I do?" Sakura asked, looking between the pair.

"Ren-san is here to ensure no one gets near Naruto-san and Sasuke-san while I'm busy, you could always help her," Hitoshi lifts one thin finger and points it in my direction.

I snort as Sakura looks at me with wavering certainty. She looks about ready to faint. How pathetic. She'd be about the same amount of use as gloves for an armless man.

"Right," Sakura nods resolutely.

I raise a brow and smirk, "don't look so eager, you have no idea whether baldy over there is telling the truth or not. For all you know he could be a paedophile about to have his wicked way with your teammates while we kill you off."

"You're the one who followed Naruto around," Sakura responds, "and you moved him away from the Second Examiner's kunai."

She lifts her head and pins me with a somewhat smug smile, "if you wanted him dead you would have killed him by now."

My jaw actually swings open.

Sakura meanwhile is looking very satisfied with herself that is until I start laughing.

"Are the Genin of Konohagakure this naïve or is this the product of some serious inbreeding? The only reason we took that kunai is because _we_ want to kill Uzumaki," I snicker.

"What?" Sakura's eyes widen in shock.

"But that's beside the point; we may have pulled Uzumaki from that nutcase's warpath but have we ever shown any inclination of interest towards you? We're here to stop the team that is undeniably waiting in the bushes to swoop down on those two in there. We made no such offers regarding your protection," my smirk grows, "they could gut you like a pig and we won't lift a finger."

"Then…" Sakura's head lowers, "then I'll…I'll just have to protect myself."

"Better," I snort, "though that may be a more promising claim if you had an ounce of skill."

"Don't mock me!" Sakura jerks her head up and yells, "I'll protect myself and Sasuke-kun and Naruto! Don't you dare underestimate me! I'll prove…I'll prove that I'm not always going to be the one who needs their help all the time! So you just-"

Sakura's speech is cut short as I bop her on the nose with my liquorice whip. Her eyebrows furrow in confusion and the wind visibly deflates from her sails. I offer no explanation and merely turn back to face the thick tangle of undergrowth, humming around the end of my liquorice whip.

"Wha…?" Sakura gapes then too turns her attention to the forest with a firm expression.

I watch the change from the corner of my eye. Interesting. Maybe she isn't _entirely_ useless after all, as deluded as the other Konoha Genin but something about them all is…different and clean.

"Besides," Sakura grumbles over the sound of my humming, "we're not inbred."

I smirk.

"We're not!" she huffs.

How temperamental. Then something occurs to me that makes my eyes widen and fix on the shape of Sakura from the corner of my eye. She didn't run away screaming. In fact…did I just have a normal (normal considering I am one of the participants of said conversation) interaction with a human being? That can't be right. Wait and Naruto didn't run away screaming either. Frowning I watch her closely from the very edge of my vision.

Something about the Konohagakure Nin is worrying. This is all so very dangerous and I can't allow myself to believe anything otherwise. This is very bad. I was adamant on that and I would not budge. The girl hadn't said or done anything remotely interesting but it was what she had not done that created this little seed of uncertainty. Just as Naruto's noise and light did.

"Are…are you seriously going to try to kill Naruto?"

"What?" I mumble distractedly, not really listening to her and not really managing to pick apart the separate threads of thoughts that have currently tangled up in my head.

"Naruto," her voice is quieter now, "are you really going to kill him?"

"Be quiet, you need to concentrate on surviving this battle right now, they'll be moving soon and we don't intend to protect you," I continued.

"Right," Sakura nodded with determination.

Minutes passed and still they didn't come. I could feel them out there somewhere in the canopy but it was most likely my presence that halted them thus far. They couldn't know an awful lot on me since everyone here seemed woefully uneducated on my reputation. Beginning to get more than a little irritated with their hesitance I turned to Sakura again.

"Why aren't you scared of me?"

"Huh?" Sakura's brows furrowed in confusion, "you're creepy and stuff but I didn't realise you were meant to be scary."

"What do you mean you didn't realise I was meant to be scary!?" I fume, thoroughly offended and oddly gratified all at once, "I'm terrifying."

"You're kinda…short," Sakura deadpanned.

"Everyone powerful is short," I sniff haughtily; "these are facts. Besides Gaara's short and everyone's terrified of him."

He's also a demon like me so why does she shrink away from him and not me?

"Gaara has a massive killing intent," Sakura replies knowledgably like she's some human text book, "you don't. And although there's something about you that makes me feel…off it doesn't feel _entirely_ malicious like Gaara's does. I find you threatening but I don't feel like you're about to murder me."

I glare at her a moment before snorting and throwing my head away.

"That," Sakura smiles, "and you look about ten."

WHAT!

"I'll have you know," I curl my lip, "I'm the same age as you."

I'm almost tempted to jab at her chest but that would only serve to illustrate the height difference. Damn her! Damn Konohagakure, the land of weird giants! It doesn't help that Isobu-sama is chuckling softly in the back of my head.

"Quiet," I snap, "it's enough that the gum-ball headed human is mocking us without you starting as well."

I scowl and glance back at the pink-haired girl who has now visibly relaxed. There's a tilt to her lips that suggests that she like Isobu-sama is desperate to laugh. Yes well, her opinions on my harmlessness will be eradicated in the next few moments. And then she'll look at me like the others do.

I snort, I'm being stupid again.

**A/N: **

**Arghhh this chapter! I have no idea how many times I've wrote then rewrote this and I'm STILL not happy with it but if I carry on I'm likely to go bald like Hitoshi.**

**Anyway I was hoping that by now you're starting to see effects of Naruto's influence on Ren's behaviour because before she came to Kirigakure she wasn't as bad as Gaara but wasn't as good as Naruto either and cockier than both. Now she's actually starting to display an interest and a tiny, tiny, tiny slither of respect for other people while before they were either boring or playthings. I'm still not happy with the Ren and Sakura dialogue but really like Sakura (fan-girling and general uselessness at the start of the series aside she's got a lot of willpower and I find that admirable) so I thought it's unlikely she'd listen to Ren call her useless without saying something back. Plus I like torturing Ren's Napoleon Complex :P **

**Thanks for reading.**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: I don't own Naruto only the OCs.**

17

"Don't move."

Sakura pauses, her feet scuffing to a halt in the dewy grass. Her eyebrows furrow and the green-blue of her eyes trail from me to the squirrel questionably. Without another word I skid forward and punt the squirrel back into the overgrowth, the trailing squeal of protest from the woodland animal growing fainter as it disappears.

"Wha…?" Sakura's jaw drops open and she looks between my smug expression and the bushes I drop-kicked the squirrel into with absolute bewilderment.

"It was tagged," I smirk tilting my head in her direction, "surely you knew that?"

"Y-Yeah. Of course I knew but…" Sakura's expression softens, "why would someone use a harmless little squirrel as a weapon."

Why, indeed. My eyes harden as I stare back out at the overgrowth.

"You'd be surprised what people are willing to use as a weapon," I reply drily.

I can't look at her face so instead I settle for addressing the cowards between the branches.

"Are you going to be coming out anytime soon?" I call, "We're growing tired of waiting for you. We'll be lenient and allow you a few more minutes of trembling then we're coming in there to drag you out ourselves."

I tut when not a leaf stirs.

"What…what did you mean by that?"

"Hrmm?" I keep my eyes locked on the chaos of leaves and brambles, growing more than a little irritated that these Genin are keeping me waiting. Patience has never been a virtue of mine but even I have enough self-control not to leave baldly unguarded when there's two more bags of sweets at stake.

"When you said that I'd be surprised what people will use as a weapon, what did you mean?" Sakura's voice is curious but cautious all at once as if she desperately wants to know but is terrified of hearing the answer.

My eyes flick once over to her then promptly back again. She's intelligent I'll give her that much; a perceptiveness that could be possibly dangerous if she had the skills to properly utilize it and overcome some that childish naivety that so painfully obvious over her shock at the tagged squirrel. There's a dawning sense of dread and pity on her features that turns my gut. I don't want to look at that. Stop making that face.

"Nothing," I huff in reply, "just that a good shinobi should be aware that your enemy will use any advantage."

"Ren-san…that's your name right? I heard you screaming it at Naruto," Sakura asks then mutters, "though I think it'd be hard for anyone not to have heard_ that_."

"We don't scream," I frown, "We're far too dignified for that. Don't lump us into the same category as you. Which brings us to something that has been confusing us, why do you and the other female keep doing that stuck pig yelling thing whenever your dour teammate appears?"

"I do not sound like a stuck pig!" Sakura snaps, "and it's because Sasuke-kun is so cool! **Not **dour."

"Ah, we see," I reply thoughtfully, "you hope to deafen him because you know his skill surpasses yours. An underhanded technique but it could be useful if you hadn't been as blaringly obvious as a flamboyant drag queen at a funeral about it. In fact if you hope to deafen him why not simply pierce his eardrums instead?"

"W-wha…" Sakura's mouth hangs open again, "…actually I give up. It's clear that you have no idea about what is _normal_."

Sakura glares at me and folds her arms as if I'm the strange one in the situation. Then her cheeks turn the most unnatural colour, somewhat akin to those suffering from the flu, and she eyes me with a nervous and bashful expression. I frown as I look down at the fingers twiddling about. Should I really be conversing with her? She seems to be suffering from some bizarre incurable mental illness and I'm not entirely sure if it's contagious or not.

"Ren-san hasn't there ever been anyone that you ever…you know," Sakura laughs self-consciously and gestures something vague with her hands.

I frown, "No we do not 'know'."

Humans are weird.

"Anyone you've ever liked…_romantically_," Sakura finishes.

"We don't know what you mean by 'ro-man-tic-cally' but we like ourselves very much in fact we would even go so far as to say we love ourselves and honestly how could we not? Our visage is…god-like," I finish dramatically.

Sakura grumbles under breath (most likely agreeing rather than any insults because let's be honest I _am_ pretty impressive) but her eyebrows furrow and she snaps her head back up at me again, "so you've never thought anyone was cute or respected them or even liked them?"

"Isobu-sama and Oji-sama are the only other beings I have any regard for," I wipe at my sleeves, "I do not affiliate with other humans."

"But you followed Naruto around for a day," Sakura counters.

"Uzumaki is not human."

"Naruto's an idiot but he is human…I think. Anyway you're human too," Sakura pouts.

My eyes instantly sharpen.

"Don't you ever say that to us again," I hiss sharply, "you have no idea what we are."

Sakura reels back as if I bit her and truthfully I'm very close to doing so. Then slowly the fear flees and something else sets in. The same something that I really, _really_ don't like looking at.

"Ren-san," Sakura continues still looking like I've just drowned her puppy after merrily kicking every damn squirrel in Konohagakure, "there's…there's something…"

"Aww, what's this?"

My eyes sharpen as finally the Oto Nin emerges. A male, a female and what appears to be the lovechild of a ragdoll and a porcupine. It's quite clear at a glance that these three fancy themselves veterans; the tone and stance suggesting that they are the older, more experienced predators picking apart the fledglings. Oh the fun I'll have proving them wrong. They have no idea who they're dealing with and if they had any inclination they most certainly wouldn't be looking at me in such a condescending manner.

"Having a little girl talk huh?" the male smirks, "cute boys and makeovers?"

Sakura stiffens.

"Yes, very intimidating," I sigh, "now can we get on with it."

The three blink and Sakura's head jerks towards me.

"Are you trying to act tough?" the girl smirks, "how adorable."

I laugh. I can't help it; they really have no clue at all.

"Ren-san?" Sakura questions shakily but I barely hear her.

The blood is thrilling to a drumbeat in my veins. These three, I think I will enjoy dragging them down. When I finally stop laughing it is abrupt and the replying smirk that I level down at them from my raised and tilted head has them questioning. Sakura's voice is fading through my ears as she confronts them. The fragile notions that have only just begun to slip through the cracks are parting from my skin like water through fingers. The three attackers, the three humans are blurring again and becoming insignificant. Puppet toys who have wandered too close to their audience. I can watch them, I can hear them but I can't feel them. They don't matter. They don't matter at all. That pulse that rises up from Isobu-sama is growing louder and I'm drowning in it, self-control flaking away with every passing second.

All three are worth two bags of sweets. And that's it.

The smirk grows and I can't help but feel a sense of relief. I'm losing myself again. The detachment brings no consequences, it allows no questions about who I am, what I am and what I'm doing; morality doesn't matter anymore._ I _don't matter anymore and yet I manage to become the axis on which the Earth orbits at the same time.

My identity seeps out with one inescapable finale.

The demon crawls in.

…..

Suddenly it's chilled. Sakura's brows furrow. The Forest has always seemed humid and heavy; the air is sometimes like trying to breathe honey. Then why did the temperature drop?

Sakura's unease only grows as a sensation of being hyper-aware of every single component in her body hits her. Raising her hand she looks at the blue lines on her wrist or more so the unnerving sensation of each cell of her blood moving through them. The atmosphere seems to draw in breath. Sakura turns to the girl standing next to her.

Ren is still grinning, that grin that reminds Sakura of sticky fingered children in a candy store except now her teeth seem pointed; a child with a wolf's smile. And her eyes. The pupils were dilated; the black swallowing up that first ring that surrounded her pupil, but that wasn't what scared Sakura. What did was the intensity, the wild, almost crazed abandonment that set Sakura's nerves prickling on edge.

Then the air snapped into place again. The pupils thinned to two tiny dots of black, the two rings of black bold against the deep pink. As the air pulled tighter to the extent that it felt as though Sakura was being suffocated in layer upon layer of cling-film, the very thing that Sakura professed separated Ren from the dead-eyed Suna boy came blaring into existence.

The Killing Intent radiating from Ren was massive.

So large and deafening and _there _where it hadn't been before that Sakura's knees buckled under its immense presence. The girl who had been the odd, spoilt brat before who Sakura could not help but feel buried a desire to be better than her words suggested and some deeper, raw pain under the arrogance was gone. In her place stood a monster with a gleeful, twitching smile and enough Killing Intent to crush the air in Sakura's lungs.

"R, Ren-san?" Sakura choked.

When Ren turned to regard her there was no recognition in her eyes despite them speaking (albeit none too civilly) for the last five minutes.

The Oto Nin widen their eyes and take up defensive stances before she's on them. She grabs the first; the male who had been lounging on an upturned root, by the ankle and with inhuman strength drags him down. The root he had been perched on shatters under the impact and he cries out as dirt and grass dislodge when he makes hard, unforgiving impact with the ground.

"Zaku!" the woman cries over the sound of Ren's laughter.

Sakura's eyes widen. She's not sure who the girl is, she's not sure what she's become and she knows that Ren made no such promises to her but still Sakura can't let the other two pick her off while she's entertained with the third. A selfish part of her mind wants to ensure Ren's safety purely because Ren is stronger than her and therefore Sakura's most promising chance of making sure they don't get anywhere near her teammates. Another part simply doesn't want to watch another human being die. Not while she can help it.

Ren with one ecstatic laugh that sends icy fingers along Sakura's spine flings the man over her head and immediately snatches him out the air only to throw him back against the earth again. It was like watching a giant play with a ragdoll. The other two take the moment to leap. Sakura wills movement into her legs and cuts the rope holding the massive trunk she secured in place.

They burst it open as if it was nothing and still continue to move towards Ren.

All that effort, all that planning and it was nothing more than an annoying fly to them. The reality of her situation hits her like a thunderbolt. This isn't a training exercise or a situational example, this is real life. And she's…she's too weak.

Ren's head jerks up as the other two Oto Nin begin to swoop down on her. Her head tilts in a curious bird-like manner, that same wide-eyed gleeful smile never leaving her face. Spinning on her heel she flings the male Oto Nin she'd been entertaining herself with into the body of the female one. The woman braces her heels and skids back with the impact, keeping her now barely conscious teammate upright as she does so. Swinging to the side Ren lifts her leg and snaps it out into the stomach of the third effectively forcing him to cross his arms in order to guard the blow while simultaneously sliding back to regroup with the other two.

"What," Zaku chokes and winces as he tries to stand straight, "what is she?"

"She's too strong to be a normal Genin," Kin (the female member) mutters darkly.

Dosu tilts his head and regards Ren like she's some particularly colourful fish, "She's a demon. She possesses abnormal strength and speed that are caused by a massive surplus of chakra, chakra that someone her age would not normally have. We'd best be careful with that one. We need her out the picture if we want to get to the Uchiha but don't rush into anything and avoid her catching a hold of you. The other-"

Dosu's eyes close in a smile, "-is fair game."

The Oto Nin move at once, Dosu's words still lingering in the air behind them as they strike out into action. They immediately focus their efforts on Ren who seems widely amused by their attack. She slides and slips under the snake like movements of Kin before bringing her heel to kick at Kin's lower back. Due to the Kiri girl's sudden immense strength Kin is sent tumbling into the foliage.

Dosu takes the moment as an opportunity to level his arm at Ren. Ren is too busy laughing as she squeezes a struggling Zaku's arm until the sound of bone grinding against bone is audible. A powerful burst of air explodes from Dosu's arm and Ren's head pricks up before she is sprinting out the path, flinging Zaku aside as she does so. Ren turns to Dosu and grins then her foot pushes against the earth.

Coral spurts up through the grass, climbing and doubling in one jagged line it speeds towards Dosu who leaps out the way. But it does not stop and instead surges on towards a shaking Sakura. Sakura's eyes widen. All that talk about Ren underestimating and now she can't even move even as the spikes are barely an arm's length away. Her eyes squeeze tight against the tears.

"Leaf Spinning Wind!"

Slowly Sakura opens her eyes and once again there is someone there protecting her. Rock Lee's profile stands ram-rod straight and attentive, his eyes locked on the three Oto Nin and single, laughing Kiri Nin with unmoving determination. And weirdly a squirrel perched on one shoulder.

"Lee?" Sakura whispers shakily, "w..why are you here?"

"I will always appear when you are in trouble," Lee answers with such straight-forward simplicity that the reply sounds as if it's the most expected response in the world.

Sakura blinks then smiles warmly. She had been **so** scared and out of her depth that knowing that she isn't alone almost breaks her heart. The coral Lee destroyed lays shattered around them. Lee saved her.

"Lee…thank you. You saved me," Sakura smiles.

"I said before," Lee replies as he crouches down into a defensive stance, "that I will protect you until I die…"

"I'll take care of him," Dosu turns to the other two then nods in Ren's direction, "you keep her occupied."

….

"There's someone else out there."

Hitoshi doesn't look up from where he's desperately mixing and applying lotions with a hard-faced expression. He's spent years digging up as much knowledge as possible on Orochimaru and kinjutsu but still this may be far too advanced. Although renowned in Kirigakure as their most experienced medical and poisons expert Hitoshi is still not sure he can combat this. He is a man endowed with a scientist's mind however and the few cause and effect hypothesises he's managed to discern of the treatment so far are giving him something at least to work off. He may be able to isolate it and keep it dormant but the possibility of completely removing the seal is quickly becoming unfeasible.

"It should be Rock Lee," Hitoshi answers Aito though his attention remains solely on ridding Sasuke of his cursed seal.

"It is," Aito grunts, "he just stopped Haruno Sakura from being skewered."

"Skewered?" Hitoshi frowns finally glancing up.

Aito grunts and nods, "That Ren is a monster out there."

"What?"

Hitoshi scrambles forward terrified that Ren may have lost control of Isobu. He breathes a sigh of relief when he notices her eyes remain the same dark pink.

"No," Hitoshi kneels beside Sasuke again, "this is how she usually fights."

"Laughing like a maniac and throwing people twice her size and weight around?" Aito snorts gruffly.

Hitoshi nods, "she has immense force at her disposal and freely gives in to the Three Tails to use it, although the biju does not have control of her Ren-san doesn't limit herself. Her actions in battle are far too unbalanced and uncontrolled, focusing on raw power than any type of style or strategy. I suppose the easiest thing to technique to compare it to would be a berserker's frenzy though instead of an axe of course Ren-san uses unsubtle Ninja arts."

"You seem to know a lot about her," Aito flashes a hard-eyed expression at Hitoshi.

"Of course," Hitoshi smiles, "she is my pupil is she not? Of course considering this is Ren-san we're talking about the title only means I'm something along the lines of a harassed nanny."

Aito grunts and switches his eyes back to the scene outside.

It is silent again save for the sound of glass vials clinking against one another.

"Aito," Hitoshi mummers, "keep an eye on her. In her present state of mind she cannot differentiate friend from foe. If she goes after the Konoha Nin…stop her."

…..

It had been going well. Lee had effectively managed to keep Sakura and himself away from any overflows of Ren's assault on the Oto Nin which kept the three dancing about from her grasping fingers. Then Lee had been forced to take down Dosu after he came at Sakura. Dosu had miraculously remained thanks to Zaku's efforts but after seeing even this tiny display of what Lee and Ren could do Sakura had managed to shed some of that fear.

It had been going so well but like everything that was progressing in your favour there came a turning point. There's came in the form of Dosu's attack. Lee startled by Dosu's seemingly untouched effect after the Lotus had not the time to guard himself from the attack and Ren who had leapt up to pounce on a crouched Zaku was too intent on amusing herself to pull her free of the blast.

Dosu's arm first met the skin of Rock Lee's face in a merciless snap of hard wood and metal against cheekbone then without pause he turned and sprung up and a still mid-flight Ren. The coral rose up either side to catch her but like every other action she committed in combat the leap was too enthusiastic and she had no control to stop herself from taking the force of Dosu's arm ploughing into her stomach. Lee fell to his knees while Ren was set flying into the bark of one of the surrounding trees.

All Sakura could think as Ren and Lee vomited and shakily tried to rise to their feet was that things had been going so well.

Ren winced and pressed a hand against her stomach. The demon inside was bubbling up with a renewed effort spurred on by the screaming of the pain receptors of the host it occupied. Something warm and wet trickled down from either ear and Ren tried to empty her stomach again as the world swayed on its hinges. People, her surroundings and even noise were swirling up into a distorted chaos. Panic rose up and the demon with it. She couldn't just pummel this into submission and the alternative was remaining there on her knees while trying to hold back her already empty stomach.

Ren couldn't see or hear or move properly in the blur of colours yet she stumbled to her feet and tried to reach out towards the voices.

Memories of her Uncle's voice singing her to sleep as a young child took root in her aching head as these mummers too had that distant, siren quality. Assassins it had to be. They must have come for her and Uncle. She had to kill them. Kill them all.

Ren almost doubled over again as the motion of slamming her foot sent the floor reeling up towards her. Coral erupted from the slam of her sandals against the grass; it rushed towards the two Konoha Nin and the Oto Nin with increasing size and speed. She was almost entirely ignored by the others now that they believed her to be incapacitated and just simply one of the small fry they were free to pick off. Kin and Zaku found an almost twisted sense of amusement in seeing the girl who had managed to beat down their pride unbalanced and unthreatening as a fawn

Dosu widened his eyes as he registered the crunching and groaning of the move's path. He spun and burst the attack into splinters then was forced to turn again as Lee almost managed to take him down with another Spinning Leaf Wind. Dosu finished Lee like he was nothing. All Sakura could think for a moment as she looked between Lee's downed body and the shaking stumble of Ren was 'it had all been going so well'.

"Now…" Dosu's smile was audible in his voice, "let's finish this."

No, wait she wasn't ending it like this. She wasn't going to sit her and die just because Lee couldn't protect her. She was stronger than that; she **had** to be stronger than that. What Konoha Genin would she be if she left Lee to die just because she was too busy crying and shaking? She was scared, she'd never been more terrified in her life but it wasn't going to end this way. She wasn't going leave Lee and Ren and Naruto and Sasuke to these creeps. She refused! She wasn't going to allow that.

"I won't let you!" Sakura yelled, filing her hands with kunai.

She launched them at Dosu who only blocked them with his arm with all the disinterest of a teenager who had been forced to entertain an infant.

"Oh Geez…"Dosu sighed.

The rest of the bored sound died though as a small hand fisted in the back of his pine cloak. Dosu's eyes widened as the killing intent seeping out from behind him grew thicker and more pulsing.

"Assassins," Ren whispered, "you know what we do with those who defy the rules in Kirigakure."

Her grin twitched.

She'd lost control. Not completely but enough to shake off labels of friend and foe and human and toy.

Sakura tried to will the shaking in her legs to stop as her eyes met Ren's.

"You all die here," Ren breathed, "Oji-sama's orders."

**A/N:  
This chapter took me forever just because I REALLY don't like writing fight scenes :( but hopefully it's okay. I noticed that a lot of this is just re-telling the scenes already in the manga and the anime so I'll try to steer clear of just regurgitating when I can but sometimes it's necessary.**

**Crys pointed out that both my OC are...erm, 'vertically challenged' and I hadn't noticed until you said XD Which is kind of weird because I'm actually considered pretty tall for a girl; in fact neither Ren nor Inari are much like me in real life, the closest OC I've created that's actually like me is probably Shinji Hyuga from Inari because I'm too overly-sensitive and nercous...and I do like really over-sized jumpers though I'm not as sappy as Shinji XD**

**Which got me to thinking what characters would you say are the most like you? It can be anime (especially Naruto since this is a Naruto fic), books, your own OCs, whatever I was just wondering.**

**Anyway I hope you enjoyed the chapter and thanks for reading :D**


End file.

Naruto